Assessing Nick Foles’ trade value after postseason dominance

Nick Foles had an incredible postseason run for the Philadelphia Eagles. What is he worth to another team in a trade? We examine his value…

Nick Foles — Super Bowl LII MVP.

Did you ever think you would read those words, and they would be true?

Well, if you slept on Foles (like me), shame on us. Foles was excellent in all three of the Eagles’ postseason games, completing nearly 73 percent of his passes with six touchdown passes, and of course his now legendary touchdown reception in the Super Bowl.

That kind of postseason run combined with the fact that — and many forget this — Foles is a former Pro Bowl selection (2013) could lead the Eagles to a nice trade haul for their backup quarterback this offseason.

It wouldn’t be the first time.

Ahead of the 2016 season, Howie Roseman decided to go all-in on Carson Wentz to start the season and traded Sam Bradford to the Minnesota Vikings for a future first round pick.

The Eagles don’t need to be in any rush to trade Foles, since Wentz was of course out for a reason. With Wentz recovering from an ACL injury, the Eagles would be wise to cover all bases before letting Foles go, even for a high price.

The fact that Wentz is recovering from an injury gives the Eagles even more leverage in trade negotiations, but not all is in their favor when considering a possible trade of Foles…

At the age of 29, Foles’ value is at least somewhat slightly diminished by the fact that he’s not been a full-time starter for a 16-game slate. The most games he’s played in one season came when he played 11 with the St. Louis Rams in 2015.

Foles carries a $7.6 million cap hit in 2018, and that’s something the Eagles may not be able to afford. They paid a significant price to put together the roster they had for the 2017 season, and that has put them in the red going into next offseason.

Unloading Foles’ cap number could be a priority for them, especially if they can get good value in return. Foles’ contract also has an interesting stipulation, in which he becomes a free agent after the 2018 season if he’s on the Eagles’ roster 23 days into the new league year (in 2019).

So, essentially, he’s got one year remaining on his contract with the Eagles.

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The fact that he’s just got one year remaining on his contract (which needs to be re-worked if traded, obviously) could diminish his value in a trade slightly, but with quarterbacks, that doesn’t really seem to be the case anymore.

The Redskins just acquired Alex Smith in a trade for a third round pick and a starting defensive player. I don’t think Foles has done enough to warrant that kind of haul, but that may not be the case around the league. Some QB-needy team with assets could overpay for this guy to be their starter, and the Eagles may be willing to take the risk that Wentz is going to be fully healthy by the start of next season.

If I were to put an over/under on Foles’ trade value this offseason, I would set it at a second round pick. If a team that needs a quarterback has multiple second rounders? That makes a trade scenario even more likely.

The Eagles might even be willing to accept future assets for Foles. One thing seems clear — a franchise QB and a Super Bowl MVP in the same meeting room?

Even though both Carson Wentz and Nick Foles are high class players, those two distinctions are going to require that both start somewhere next season, and Foles is likely the one to be moved.