The Jacksonville Jaguars decided to mutually part ways with offensive coordinator John DeFilippo Monday and his departure led to more speculations about Nick Foles’ future. Ultimately, DeFilippo ended up taking a job with the Chicago Bears as a quarterbacks coach, and with the struggles of Mitch Trubisky, the Jags would be wise to see if DeFilippo wants to bring Foles to the windy city with him.
In addition to the connection with DeFilippo, Foles has a connection with several others on the Chicago Bears’ staff, including head coach Matt Nagy, who was an offensive quality control coach for the Eagles during Foles’ rookie year in Philly.
However, it was during Foles’ time in Kansas City that the two got to establish a stronger connection as Nagy was the Chiefs’ offensive coordinator. Back in January of last year, Nagy praised Foles who was heading toward free-agency where the Jags eventually landed him.
The last connection worth mentioning when looking at the Bears staff is Foles’ connection with Bill Lazor, who is the Bears’ offensive coordinator. He too is a former Eagles assistant who has worked with Foles during his time in Philly (2013) as a quarterbacks coach.
Another reason the Bears could be open for a trade is because of their lack of draft picks in 2020. In exchange for taking Foles, the Jags, who are loaded with eight 2020 draft picks could offer them something within the top-100 picks. The Bears only have one selection in the top-3 rounds (pick No. 50) partly due to the Khalil Mack trade and moving up to select running back David Montgomery last season. That said, they could be swayed with a third-round selection in addition to acquiring Foles.
The last key thing to consider is the Bears’ salary cap. Unfortunately, they only are projected to have just under $21 million in cap space, per Spotrac. However, the retiring of offensive lineman Kyle Long will help add to that as would moving on from veteran cornerback Prince Amukamara, which would save $9 million. Of course, other moves could be made as well but we’ll have to wait to see with the Bears are working with financially in the coming months.
When looking at Foles’ 2020 salary, he has a signing bonus of $6.2 million due and a base salary of over $15 million to be made. With the signing bonus being on the team who originally signed the player (Jacksonville in this case), the Jags would still have to pay a good chunk of Foles 2020 salary if traded. That still would be better than outright releasing him, though.
Now, we’d like to hear from you all. Should the Jags look into trading Foles to the Bears? Give us your thought in our Jags Wire forum.
