Super Bowl LII was one for the ages. Records were wrecked, fantastic plays were made, and most of all, there seemed to be a passing of a proverbial torch—if Carson Wentz played. Instead, Nick Foles, the backup quarterback for the Eagles, lead the talented team to the Super Bowl win. As happy as the Eagles organization must be, it really puts them in a huge quagmire. They already committed to Carson Wentz being their quarterback of the future. Now, they need to really think about what Nick Foles’ true value to the team is. However, any objective viewer can tell you that he simply needs to be traded.
Before diving into where he could be traded, let’s discuss the true merit of Nick Foles. He performed remarkably during the postseason, but is that something he can sustain? During the postseason, Nick Foles averaged a QBR of 81.4, an outstanding number. Since QBR calculates the efficiency of the quarterback and 55 is around average, I’d say that 81.4 is significant. The issue is the sample size. That statistic simply applies to the postseason, not the regular season.
While Foles had 81.4 for the postseason, he only put up 31.4 for the regular season which is an atrocious number. Compare that to Carson Wentz, who put up a league high 75.9 QBR during the regular season, and one starts to really look critically on what Nick Foles could actually do. The other major statistic quarterbacks are judged on is completion percentage. Nick Foles posted 56.4 and 72.6 percent during the regular season and postseason respectively. The first number is extraordinarily subpar, while the second number is just extraordinary. There’s certainly a trend here. The Eagles caught lightning in a bottle with Nick Foles; he performed at an all-time high just during the postseason. He is not the overall star one wants in the QB position and therefore needs to be traded.
Traded where? There is a flurry of dysfunctional organizations but there is also a huge pool of quarterbacks to choose from. Which organization is willing to take on a middle-aged quarterback like Nick Foles? Quite a few actually. He lead a team to the Super Bowl, and while that may not warrant a “superstar” status on its own just yet, it definitely warrants attention. And what other team needs a quarterback like that then the one and only team this year that never won a game? Oh yes, the Cleveland Browns.
Considered by many as the most poorly run organization in all of sports, the Browns have been horrendous to say the least. Winning zero games last season, they claim that their lack of a quarterback is holding them back. While it’s actually the lack of “everything” holding them back, Nick Foles is certainly not a bad upgrade. He will have a semi-decent target in Josh Gordon and can finally be the face of a franchise. The Browns certainly have the assets, and, as they have barely gotten any assets from those picks before, they may as well try and use them now for a quarterback that has proven himself on the biggest stage.
It’s quite sad really. You win the biggest title in American sports for an organization that doesn’t even need you to win it. Sad as it may be, Nick Foles is now in the perfect spot to be traded into a team that can really push him as their face. He may be down now, but once he gets traded, he might just be able to catch lightning in a bottle once more.