When the Philadelphia Eagles’ season finally ends – which has yet to happen – the team’s front office will be faced with a very tough question to answer: who will be the starting quarterback going forward? Before tearing his ACL in Week 13 of his sophomore season against the Los Angeles Rams, nobody in their right mind had any reason to think that Wentz was not the future face of the Philadelphia Eagles franchise. Not until a miraculous Super Bowl win orchestrated by backup QB Nick Foles, however. Ever since their 41-33 victory over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl 52, there has been speculation about who the Eagles should have lining up under center in the future.
Fast forward to Week 13 of the very next season, and here we are looking at the exact same scenario play out before our very eyes: Carson Wentz ruled out for the game against the Los Angeles Rams and Nick Foles taking over the offense for the remainder of the season. Foles finished the 2018 season as strong as he could have, leading the Eagles to wins in their final three games and helping them secure a playoff berth. After the Eagles claimed their spot in the NFC playoffs, fans started wondering; are the Eagles a better team with Nick Foles at quarterback? It’s hard to say no at this point.
Foles seems to possess some type of magic. Whenever he’s starting for his team, they seemingly cannot lose, no matter how much writing of a loss is on the wall. In Sunday’s wild card game against the Chicago Bears, Foles and the Eagles trailed 15-10 with little time remaining in the game. Foles marched his team down the field and he connected with receiver Golden Tate for the go-ahead touchdown with 56 seconds left to play. Philadelphia failed to convert a 2-point conversion, leaving them with a 16-15 lead.
Chicago responded with a good 2 minute drill themselves, but it wasn’t enough. Bears kicker Cody Parkey had his game-winning 43-yard field goal attempt blocked by Eagles defensive tackle Treyvon Hester, and thus, it happened again. The Eagles won another playoff game with Nick Foles at quarterback. While a second consecutive Super Bowl win by Nick Foles would make this million dollar question a lot easier to answer, it just can’t happen, right?
Considering how good the Eagles play with Foles starting and how they were playing with Carson Wentz this past season, I think if you’re the Eagles, you have to ask yourselves if a trade is on the table for either of those players. With Foles, it may be a little bit more difficult to find a suitor given his struggles outside of Philadelphia, with the Rams and Chiefs, respectively. Another factor that would limit Foles’ trade value is his age. While he’s only 29, a relatively young age for quarterbacks, he has said he’s contemplated retiring in the past. Trading for a player who may retire in the near future is obviously a massive risk for any organization.
The Eagles have another quarterback, however, that should not give them many issues in finding a potential trade partner. Though he’s missed 8 of his last 32 games due to ACL and back injuries, quarterback needy teams would salivate at the idea of Carson Wentz being available for trade. While it’s extremely unlikely the Eagles seriously consider trading their franchise quarterback, three teams that I could see exploring a potential trade for Carson Wentz are the Denver Broncos, Miami Dolphins, and the Jacksonville Jaguars. All three of those teams are in the opposite conference and could give the Eagles an unimaginable amount of value in return. With a weakness in the secondary, Philadelphia could try to nab Jalen Ramsey away from Jacksonville if the Jaguars came calling. They could try to acquire Von Miller from Denver if the Broncos came calling.
Regardless of how likely or unlikely it is, the NFL has taught us all two things through the years: the possibilities are endless, and you just never know.
I would love to see the Eagles try to keep both of them. So far we have seen that keeping both has worked out VERY well for them — so why not try to keep both?