The Bears looked at many different quarterback options. In the end, they executed the one that made the most sense.
Nick Foles is coming to the Chicago Bears to compete with Mitchell Trubisky. To make that happen, general manager Ryan Pace sent a compensatory fourth round pick to Jacksonville.
While the Jaguars kept making it seem like they weren’t interested in trading Foles, there’s no way they were going to keep him as their backup quarterback with cap hits over $20 million in 2021 and 2022. They clearly had buyer’s remorse and by cutting ties with him now, they eat an $18.5 million cap hit in 2020 and break free from the contract going forward.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Chicago sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
So if the Jaguars were regretting signing Foles, why does this trade still make sense for the Bears?
Because while Jacksonville eats a lot of dead money, Foles comes to Chicago for about $15.6 million in 2020, with only a guaranteed $5 million roster bonus on the books for 2021. And that’s before any restructuring, which is likely happening in this deal considering the Bears gave up a fourth round pick.
Foles immediately becomes expensive competition for Trubisky, but it’s money (and draft capital) that needed to spent in the Bears’ current quarterback situation.
Don’t assume that Foles will immediately become the starter because of what the Bears are paying for here. It will be an actual competition – something Foles is used to, and something Trubisky needs. In fact, I would still pencil in Trubisky as the favorite to win the job right now, mainly because any organization would prefer to have their 25-year-old, former No. 2 overall pick develop into a reliable starting quarterback. But by making this move, Pace is acknowledging that it might not happen. And he just purchased an expensive, but necessary insurance option — one that comes with Super Bowl-winning experience.
NFL
Foles not only knows the Bears’ offensive system, he’s worked with head coach Matt Nagy, offensive coordinator Bill Lazor and quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo. Foles’ best season was with Lazor in his first go-around with the Eagles. Later, he won Philadelphia a Super Bowl with DeFilippo as his quarterbacks coach. In between, he spent time with Nagy in Kansas City.
Foles is a true professional and knows how to fit into a quarterback room as a backup, while also competing at a high level. The best case scenario for the Bears is that Foles pushes Trubisky into becoming the quarterback they thought they were drafting in 2017. The more likely scenario is that at some point Foles is going to be starting games for the Bears and he’ll give them stability and confidence at a position that badly needs it.
But let’s be clear: I’m not trying to make Foles out to be something he’s not. He’s either an average starting quarterback or an outstanding backup depending on what role he’s executing on any given Sunday. There’s a reason the Bears are now his fifth NFL team since he was drafted in the third round by the Eagles in 2012. Foles won’t be the long term solution at the position if Trubisky fails, but his playoff pedigree suggests he may be good enough to salvage the playoff window the Bears’ defense is trying so hard to prop open.
Heck, the defense witnessed that first hand on Jan. 6, 2019 when Foles marched right down the field and hit Golden Tate on a short out-pattern to put the Eagles ahead 16-15 with 56 seconds remaining in the Wild Card game.
That was Foles’ last win after only playing in four games last season. But it likely wasn’t his last win at Soldier Field.