Jaguars Trade Nick Foles to Chicago for a 2020 4th-Round Pick
Another day, another blockbuster trade from the Jacksonville Jaguars.
One year removed from giving quarterback former Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles a four-year, $88 million contract, the Jaguars have agreed to trade the former Super Bowl MVP to the Chicago Bears in exchange for a fourth-round draft selection in 2020, JaguarReport has been able to confirm.
Adam Schefter of ESPN was the first to report the trade.
This is just the latest in a line of major trades from the Jaguars, coming two days after the Jaguars traded away veteran defensive lineman Calais Campbell to the Baltimore Ravens for a 2020 fifth-round selection and a few weeks after the Jaguars traded cornerback A.J. Bouye to the Denver Broncos for a 2020 fourth-round pick.
Foles' connection to the Bears is clear due to his experience with three of the Bears' top-ranking coaches, including head coach Matt Nagy. In fact, we wrote on Jan. 16 about how Foles would make sense for the Bears.
Nagy was the Kansas City Chiefs' offensive coordinator in 2016 when Foles was Kansas City's backup quarterback. Foles notably considered retirement after the 2015 season, but his year in Kansas City helped him rejuvenate his career and Nagy was instrumental in this.
Secondly, the Bears' offensive coordinator is Bill Lazor, who was Foles' quarterbacks coach with the Eagles in 2013, Foles' best entire season as a starter. Foles threw 27 touchdowns and only two interceptions that year, and Lazor's work with him played a notable part in it.
Finally, there is John DeFilippo, the Bears' current quarterbacks coach. DeFilippo was the Jaguars' offensive coordinator in 2019, but his history with Foles goes deeper than that. DeFilippo was Foles' positional coach with the Philadelphia Eagles during the Eagles' 2017 Super Bowl run, and the presence of DeFilippo was instrumental in the Jaguars' pursuit of Foles, with the former play-caller designing his entire playbook around Foles due to his past with the passer.
The performance by Foles for the Eagles in Super Bowl LII has since gone down in NFL lore, with the former backup quarterback creating a permanent place for himself in NFL history as he completed 28/43 passes for 373 yards and three touchdowns along with one receiving touchdown.
Foles was relegated to backup duties behind Carson Wentz once again in 2018, but returned as the starter at the end of the season due to injuries to Wentz. In five starts in 2018, Foles led the Eagles to a 4-1 record and a 16-15 Wild Card victory over the Chicago Bears.
Once Foles became a free agent following two hot short-term stretches as the Eagles' starting signal-caller in 2017 and 2018, he quickly became linked to the Jaguars. He signed quickly with the Jaguars, inking a four-year contract that was worth about $45 million in guarantees, which is the most guaranteed money the Jaguars have ever pledged to a player.
Throughout the entirety of the offseason programs, training camp, and preseason, Foles was the Jaguars' unquestioned No. 1 quarterback. He got off to a hot start in Week 1 as well, throwing a 35-yard touchdown pass to DJ Chark on his second possession as the Jaguars' starting quarterback.
Unfortunately for Foles, the teardrop touchdown pass would end result in his entire Jaguars' tenure being turned upside down. Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones landed on Foles during the throw, resulting in a fractured clavicle for the veteran passer that would eventually require surgery.
With Foles on the mend, rookie quarterback Gardner Minshew II started the next eight games. Minshew went 4-4 as the starter in that period, and his energetic play style and moxie won over the respect of his teammates, coaches, front office, and owner Shad Khan.
Foles returned as the Jaguars' starting quarterback in Week 11, his first game eligible to return from injured reserve. His time back on the field was short-lived, however, as the Jaguars were in the midst of a brutal losing streak.
Jacksonville lost each of Foles' first two starts upon his return, and the veteran quarterback was then benched in favor of Minshew by head coach Doug Marrone at halftime of Week 13's loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after committing three turnovers in the first half. Foles didn't play another snap in 2019.
Foles' tenure in Jacksonville had abrupt ups and downs, and this trade signals the final major shift of his tenure with the Jaguars. Ultimately, he never played in the second half of a game at TIAA Bank Field despite signing a massive deal last March.
In four games in 2019, Foles completed 65.8% of his passes and threw for 736 yards (6.3 yards per attempt) with three touchdowns and two interceptions.
The Jaguars now have 12 picks in the 2020 NFL Draft, including three picks in the fourth round. They will also have to take on a dead cap hit of a little more than $18 million.
Minshew is now firmly entrenched as the Jaguars' starting quarterback moving into 2020, and the Foles era in Jacksonville has ended.
The trade will not become official until the new league year begins at 4 p.m. and Foles passes a physical with the Bears.
