Reports surfaced Tuesday that the Eagles rejected an offer from the Cleveland Browns of the 35th pick in the NFL Draft for Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles. This debate seems to be relatively split, and frankly, I'm surprised. I think the decision the Eagles made was the obvious one, so let's dive in and explore why the Howie made the right call.
In a vacuum, the 35th pick for Nick Foles is fair compensatory value. However, the situation is a lot more nuanced than that. One of the biggest reasons the Eagles had that parade down Broad Street on February 8th is because of the depth on that roster. Some of the team's most valuable talents went down with injury, but thanks to a masterstroke of roster-building from Howie Roseman and Joe Douglas, the Eagles were able to sustain significant injuries and still accomplish the goal of hoisting the Lombardi Trophy that so eluded them for decades. No depth piece was bigger than Nick Foles, who out-performed Tom Brady on the way to Super Bowl MVP. Depth is important in the NFL, and many teams don't have the quality depth to sustain injuries the way the Eagles were able to.
Carson Wentz is coming off a torn ACL. We'd love to assume the hard-working, mentally tough Wentz will be perfectly fine returning from knee reconstructive surgery, but the fact is we simply don't know. Additionally, it's a statistical fact that when you tear your ACL in one knee, you are more likely at some point to tear the ACL in your other knee. Thus, going forward, your franchise QB is now at a statistically greater risk to tear the ACL in his right knee at some point in his career. Not having a quality(and proven) backup behind Wentz at this point would just be pure negligence. Especially when your goal is to repeat as Super Bowl champions, a rare feat that would allow the 'D' word to start creeping in with conversations about the Eagles. You have seen with the Green Bay Packers what happens without quality QB depth. Whenever Aaron Rodgers got hurt, the Packers fell apart. How many years of Rodgers' prime were wasted because of the inability of Ted Thompson to put capable depth behind their QB?
Yes, by turning down this offer, you risk Wentz staying healthy and not even having to use Nick Foles, and losing the opportunity to add a quality piece to your team with the 35th pick. But even if that scenario were to play out, are they really losing all that much? It's one player out of a 53 man roster. You can easily supplement that missed opportunity with a quality free agent signing, and nailing the draft picks you do have. You can replace and survive missed talent, but one thing you can't replace is lost time. And the Eagles have core players on the roster who are either past or quickly approaching their prime. Jason Peters is 36, Jason Kelce will be 31 by the conclusion of the 2018 season, Brandon Graham is 30, Brandon Brooks will be 29 when the season starts, Malcolm Jenkins turns 31 in December. If you trade away Nick Foles, and Carson Wentz goes down, your season is over. You have no shot. And you will essentially have wasted a year, not just of a chance to compete for a championship, but a critical year that key players on the roster have to remain productive. The risks far outweigh the rewards of taking that deal. We aren't going to look back 10 years from now and say "Man, if only the Eagles accepted the deal for the 35th pick, they'd have won 5 more Super Bowls by now!" The NFL doesn't work like that. Bad roster decisions that add up over time can adversely affect an organization, but singularly, the only position that can hurt you at the level where you come to immediately regret it is screwing up at QB. And the Eagles already have that position covered. In large part to having the MVP of the 2017 season under center. But also because they possess the best backup QB in the NFL. An insurance policy for the ages, and Super Bowl champion.
The Eagles made it clear from day one they would only trade him if it made sense for the Eagles and for him. Clearly, it made no sense for both, as Nick Foles had a much greater chance to start for the Browns in September 2018 than he did for the Eagles. Yes, it is Howie's job not to placate Nick Foles, but to do what's best for the Eagles. The NFL is a cold, cut-throat business, and you have to operate accordingly. In this case, Howie did both. What is best for the Eagles, and best for Nick. Have yourself an offseason, Howie.
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