Twist of Fate: Are the Chiefs Working to Trade for Nick Foles?
By Wally Fish
Andy Reid drafted Nick Foles out of the University of Arizona in the 3rd Round of the 2012 Draft. Since that day, the pieces on the chess board have shifted significantly. With Michael Vick often injured and ineffective, Reid turned the keys to the Eagles offense over to his rookie QB. Philadelphia finished the season with just four wins and were 1-5 in the six games that Foles started.
Foles could be coming to Kansas City. (Photo Credit: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-USA TODAY Sports)
Thanks to Philadelphia’s largely subpar QB play, Reid was dismissed and became available.
Thanks in large part to Kansas City’s subpar QB play, Romeo Crennel was fired and Clark Hunt moved quickly and decisively to replace him with Andy Reid.
The vast majority of Chiefs nation would agree that the change in head coaches resulted in a massive upgrade. In reality there might be a universal consensus on that notion.
Poor QB play led the Eagles to snatch up Oregon’s Chip Kelly, the latest and greatest offensive genius. Kelly has since added former Ducks QB Dennis Dixon, who is now 28 years old and has just 59 pass attempts on his professional resume in five seasons. More notably the Eagles also elected to bring Michael Vick back for 2013 by reworking his contract. Both Vick and Dixon figure to mesh with Kelly’s system better than Foles could ever dream. While the team is saying all the right things about “open competition” and valuing what each player brings to the table, it’s rather obvious who the odd man out is going to be.
Since Kelly is sticking with one Eagles QB that had a subpar season in 2012, it’s only logical that the Kansas City Chiefs and Andy Reid would have interest in the other Eagles QB that participated in their subpar year.
The universe works in mysterious ways.
Based on a recent article published by USA Today’s Mike Garafolo, the logical hypothetical may come to fruition. The Chiefs appear to have interest in trading for Nick Foles. In fact, according to one of Garafolo’s sources there is more smoke to this potential fire than just “interest.”
"The person, who spoke to USA TODAY Sports on condition of anonymity because the Chiefs haven’t discussed their thoughts publicly, said the team is working on plans to add a quarterback and considers Foles a possibility."
Putting aside the 2012 performance of the former Wildcats QB, Andy Reid and Doug Pederson both believe that Foles has a bright future in the NFL. They’ve made no secret about that and even though he couldn’t lead the Eagles to more than one win, the rookie QB handled himself admirably while trying to lead a sinking ship.
As far as the performance goes, in seven games he threw for 1,699 yards, 6 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. He completed 60.8% of his 265 pass attempts, finished the season with a quarterback rating of 79.1 and threw for 300+ yards in two of his last three starts. Those numbers are better than Matt Cassel‘s – who was bad in 2012 but wasn’t as awful as fans have made him out to be – and Brady Quinn – who aside from one stunningly good game was beyond atrocious. Foles was working with a better crop of receivers (which isn’t saying much) but between the two teams he had an inferior offensive line and nothing remotely resembling a RB on par with Jamaal Charles. Let’s also not forget that Foles did what he did as a rookie.
If the Chiefs trade for Nick Foles, there is no question he provides the team with a massive upgrade at the QB position and provides them with a legitimate franchise player. Having just turned 24, he could call Arrowhead home for a very long time. That’s something that cannot be said for other guys that might be available like Alex Smith.
Much has already been written about the makeup of the QB class in the upcoming draft and while one of those guys might wind up being a better player than Foles over the long haul, good luck figuring out which of the 6-7 options is that guy.
The best QB in this year’s draft may, in a roundabout way, be Nick Foles and the Chiefs would be wise to follow through on their interest.