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Kansas City Chiefs Bring In Nick Foles

By Ben Almquist

Nov 29, 2015; Cincinnati, OH, USA; St. Louis Rams quarterback Nick Foles (5) against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium. The Bengals won 31-7. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 29, 2015; Cincinnati, OH, USA; St. Louis Rams quarterback Nick Foles (5) against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium. The Bengals won 31-7. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Kansas City Chiefs have reunited head coach Andy Reid with his former quarterback Nick Foles. Reid drafted Foles in the third round of the 2012 draft for the Philadelphia Eagles organization.

The Kansas City Chiefs made a surprising move by signing Nick Foles to the roster. Foles had been released by the Rams earlier this off-season due to drafting another quarterback, Jarred Goff.

The move comes as a bit of a surprise for many Chiefs fans as the  Kansas City Chiefs already had four quarterbacks on the roster.  Bringing in the veteran Foles would seem to indicate that the team is not happy with the progress of the backup quarterback battle between Tyler Bray and Aaron Murray.

We do know that the deal  is a one year deal with a second year team option tacked on.  That means if Foles impresses the staff, they can elect to bring him back in 2017.  The structure of this contract will be interesting to observe as the Chiefs currently have very little salary cap space. Spotrac.com reports the Chiefs near $160,000 in space.

Adam Schefter reported the details of the Foles contract on Twitter.

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This means the Kansas City Chiefs will likely have to make some kind of move to create salary cap space for Foles.  The Chiefs have a few excess players at some positions this season. Guys that might find a new home somewhere else include: Knile Davis, De’Anthony Thomas, Aaron Murray, Tyler Bray and/or rookie Kevin Hogan.

Hogan probably won’t be dealt because he’s a rookie and the Chiefs don’t know what they have in him yet.

A package deal could be something to watch for in the coming days or weeks. Insider for ESPN and former front office man for the Philadelphia Eagles, Louis Riddick, says a trade will be made involving one of the Chiefs backup quarterbacks.

Teams to watch for a deal to possibly be made are the Minnesota Vikings and the Dallas Cowboys. Both teams had interest in acquiring Nick Foles. Both teams are in desperate need for some kind of backup quarterback. The Chiefs have a few backup quarterbacks with upside those teams could be willing to trade for.

If and when the Chiefs make a trade, that will help alleviate some of the cap space problems. The KC Chiefs might also have to cut a few players if a deal doesn’t work out financially or one doesn’t get made.

Nick Foles is a solid backup quarterback with many NFL starts. The former Arizona Wildcat started 35 NFL games during the first four years of his career. Foles started his career in Philadelphia under head coach Andy Reid. He started six games for the Eagles going 1-5 with a 60.8 completion percentage for 1,699 yards and six passing touchdowns to five interceptions.

Under head coach, Chip Kelly, Foles had his best year of his career thus far. In 2013, he completed 64 percent of his passes for 27 touchdowns, 2,891 passing yards and two interceptions in his 13 games appeared (ten starts) for the Eagles three seasons ago.

Unfortunately, his statistics got much worse after the 2013 season. Foles got traded to the St.Louis Rams prior to the 2015 season. While in St. Louis, Foles put up the worst numbers of his career.

He had a 56.4 completion percentage for 2,052 passing yards, seven touchdowns and ten interceptions in 11 games started last season.  His quarterback rating was the worst in the league coming in at 30.

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I think Foles will rebound in Kansas City. He knows Reid’s system and he has NFL experience making him a more viable backup just in case something happened to starting quarterback Alex Smith. He’s still young at 27-years-old. There is time for him to develop into a better quarterback.

I also think being a backup will help Foles learn more. He can pick the brains of Alex Smith and Andy Reid on the sideline during a game and at practice. This should only help him progress faster under Reid’s offense this time around for the KC Chiefs.

Overall, the move to acquire Foles should payoff for the Kansas City Chiefs. Kansas City has a reliable backup quarterback with NFL starting experience now. Foles has upside the Chiefs could utilize in the future if the team choose to extend him past this season.

Next: Kansas City Chiefs: Top Ten Passing Leaders of All-Time

A better look at Foles is coming soon. The first preseason Chiefs game starts next Saturday, August 13th, against the Los Angeles Rams at 3:30.

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