What Does Nick Foles Not Winning the Bears' QB Job Say About the Jaguars?

When the Jacksonville Jaguars traded Nick Foles, the player they had signed just one year prior in hopes of him becoming their franchise quarterback, the team was making a clear and direct statement: they admitted they made a mistake with Foles by giving him a four-year, $88 million deal in 2019.

The magnitude of that mistake will likely not be known for some time, though the mistake was mitigated by the addition of sixth-round quarterback Gardner Minshew, who shined in 2019 after Foles sustained a clavicle injury in Week 1. Minshew's presence would ultimately lead to Foles being traded to the Chicago Bears for a 2020 fourth-round pick, which set the table for this week's news out of the NFC North.

The entire purpose of the Bears trading for Foles was for him to compete with Mitch Trubisky for the team's starting job after Trubisky had a disastrous 2019, but the Bears decided this week on making the young passer the starting quarterback over Foles, a former Super Bowl MVP.

In a competitive battle, Bears are expected to name Mitchell Trubisky the starting QB, source tells ESPN.

It’s due to his progression, leadership and overall performance throughout camp. Nick Foles made decision difficult for Matt Nagy, but the team feels strong about its QBs.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 4, 2020

The move to make Foles a backup quarterback wasn't a completely surprising move by the Bears, but it is one that says a lot about the Jaguars and their evaluations of Foles from over the past several years. To get an idea for what it says, we break it down below.

Jaguars knew Minshew was the better option over Foles, and the Bears proved it

After watching both quarterbacks play in 2020, albeit Foles had significantly fewer snaps, it was obvious to nearly all observers that Minshew was the better option for the Jaguars in 2019 and beyond. The Jaguars certainly didn't intend for this outcome when they drafted Minshew and signed Foles, but it became too obvious as to who was the better option to move forward with to ignore, leading to the Jaguars trading Foles to Chicago before a competition could even begin.

There are certainly arguments to be made in favor of Foles and against Minshew, specifically when it comes to experience and sample size, but the Jaguars felt better about Minshew at every step of the way from Week 1 onward. And at least for now, the Jaguars have been somewhat vindicated considering Foles was not impressive enough to unseat Trubisky, who has been one of the league's worst starting quarterbacks since he was drafted.

This move serves as a major indictment of Tom Coughlin's investment into Foles

If Foles can't beat Trubisky for a starting job, that speaks volumes about the Jaguars decision to pay Nick Foles in 2019 despite his hit-or-miss track record serving as a major red flag. More specifically, it speaks volumes about former executive vice president of football operations Tom Coughlin since he was the driving force behind the Jaguars giving Foles the largest guaranteed contract in franchise history.

For context's sake, Trubisky threw just 17 touchdowns and 10 interceptions last year while also posting a career-worst 6.1 yards per attempt. By all accounts out of camp, he hasn't exactly inspired confidence with his play. Still, Foles didn't do enough in the Bears' eyes to justify benching Trubisky for him. And in the event the Bears only traded for Foles because they knew he wouldn't outshine Trubisky, which is a fair theory, then what does it say about the Jaguars and Coughlin that they paid a quarterback who can't perform better than Minshew and Trubisky in back-to-back years? Quite a bit.

Jaguars got the better of the Bears in this trade, at least for now

There is of course a long way to go until we can fully judge the Bears and Jaguars trade of Foles. Frankly, It would be surprising if Foles didn't start at some point for the Bears in 2020 considering the lack of consistency Trubisky has displayed over his career. But for now, the Jaguars getting anything for Foles seems like a win.

By trading Foles, the Jaguars not only allowed Minshew to spend the entirety of the 2020 offseason and training camp preparing as the starter, but they were able to get out of any future financial commitments to Foles after this season. The Jaguars are on the hook this year for $18,750,000 in dead cap, but beyond that they are free of a contract which would have otherwise weighed down on their salary cap for years. And now, the Bears have Foles on a re-worked deal that forces them to commit money to him down the road, but only as a backup.

A Foles/Minshew competition likely would have gone the same way as the Foles/Trubisky one did

Even in Trubisky's best season in 2018, it would be hard to make an argument for him as a better quarterback than Minshew, or at least what Minshew displayed as a rookie. Trubisky has thrown 49 touchdown passes to 29 intereptions and has a career 6.4 yards per attempt mark. He has bogged down the Bears' passing game for some time and, as mentioned earlier, it doesn't appear as if he has had much luck in this year's camp.

So if Trubisky performed better, or at least equal to, Foles in this year's camp, that means the Jaguars would have almost assuredly seen the same results had they let Foles enter their training camp in a competition with Minshew for the starting job. The theory with many was that Foles could have won the job from Minshew but Jacksonville wanted the cheaper and younger option, the Bears move to not name him the starter instead shows that Foles would have been unlikely to ever beat Minshew.

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