Jaguars quarterback Nick Foles has been traded to the Chicago Bears for a fourth-round pick, as reported by Mike Garafalo.
The MVP of Super Bowl 52 spent just one season in Jacksonville. Foles signed for big money, only to see his job lost to Gardner Minshew following a fractured collar bone in Week 1.
Minshew is on a much more team-friendly contract and, on a team closer to rebuilding than contending, it makes sense to move on from a big contract like Foles. Chicago, in return, gets a veteran quarterback with experience in the postseason.
Foles will arrive in Chicago with a real chance to take the starting job from Mitch Trubisky.
The No. 2 pick back in 2017 saw his numbers plummet in 2019, throwing seven fewer touchdowns, just over 3,100 passing yards, and finishing with a passer rating of 83.0, 15.4 points below his career-high mark from 2018.
Trubisky struggled with decision-making and accuracy in 2019, causing the Bears offense to stagnate. The Bears ranked 29th in both yards-per-game and points-per-game. Trubisky finished the season ranked 28th in QBR and 32nd in yards-gained-per-pass-attempt.
Foles has previous experience with Chicago head coach Matt Nagy. Both were members of the Kansas City Chiefs before Foles’ return to Philadelphia. The familiarity and chemistry that Foles and Nagy have with one another will undoubtedly lead to a heated quarterback competition in Chicago.
Foles and Trubisky are very different players, so it will be interesting to see which style of play Coach Nagy prefers.
Foles was 0-4 as a starter in Jacksonville, and his last win as a starter was the infamous ‘Double-Doink’ game in the playoffs as a member of the Philadelphia Eagles.
The opponent: the Chicago Bears.
Foles is 27-22 as a starter in the regular season, with 71 touchdown passes against 35 interceptions, with a completion percentage of 61.9. In the postseason, Foles is exponentially better, sporting a 4-2 record with 11 touchdowns and five interceptions with a 68.1 completion percentage.
Both playoff losses were to the New Orleans Saints.
Chicago will be the fifth NFL team for Nick Foles. The journeyman quarterback has also spent time with the-now Los Angeles Rams, Kansas City Chiefs, Philadelphia Eagles, and Jacksonville Jaguars. The move to Chicago also reunites Foles with tight end Trey Burton, who was his quarterback for the “Philly Special” trick play in Super Bowl 52.
