When the Philadelphia Eagles opted to let quarterback Nick Foles walk free as opposed to placing the franchise tag on him, there was some lingering concern he could end up back in the NFC East.
Both Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie and general manager Howie Roseman were wary of the New York Giants and Washington Redskins, but eventually realized Foles would be headed to Jacksonville.
For Lurie, there was an admitted sigh of relief.
“Certainly, Howie and I had long discussions about it,” Lurie said, via NBC Sports Philadelphia. “We thought the sooner we do it, the better because we wanted to give Nick every opportunity to be in the best possible situation and not have a team worry that we were potentially going to keep him and not have the opportunity to start, because there aren’t that many opportunities.
“We were also, to be honest about it, hoping that he would not end up with the Giants or the Redskins. That was part of it. We were very confident he was going to play for Jacksonville.”
The Giants and Foles did share a mutual interest, but talks between the two sides led to nothing but immediate dead ends.
Ultimately, Foles joined former Giants head coach Tom Coughlin in Jacksonville, signing a four-year, $88 million contract.
