Andy Gets His QB, and It Isn't Foles
The Philadelphia Daily News - Eagletarian
Andy Gets His QB, and It Isn't Foles
Les Bowen, Daily News Staff Writer
The team most of us considered the main suitor for Nick Foles went in another direction Wednesday.
Andy Reid and the Kansas City Chiefs agreed in principle to a trade with the 49ers for quarterback Alex Smith, FoxSports.com reported. The 49ers will get Kansas City's second-round selection this April, 34th overall, and a conditional 2014 pick. The trade can't be official until free agency starts March 12.
This development could mean the Eagles were not just posturing, and really do want to hold onto Foles, at least until Reid's successor, Chip Kelly, gets a look at last year's rookie QB on the practice field. The Chiefs did ask the Eagles about trading for Foles, and were told last week that the Birds weren't ready to trade him.
If the Chiefs had been scouting out, say, a draft weekend move, last week might have been a prelude to more serious bargaining. But if they have already traded for Smith, the Chiefs clearly were ready to get down to business right away when they contacted the Eagles. Reid left the Eagles on excellent terms; there is no reason why the sides would have misunderstood each other. If Reid made it clear he was looking to make a deal now, and the Eagles said "no thanks," that would seem to mean they are keeping Foles.
It also could mean the Chiefs weren't willing to trade the 34th pick in the draft for Foles, who was the 88th selection last year, and that the Eagles weren't willing to trade Foles for what they were offered. Smith, the first overall pick in 2005, has a much more extensive resume.
In any case, Reid is the only NFL decision-maker who definitely sees Foles as a viable starting QB, and Reid now has a QB. So what's the remaining market for Foles, if he is available? In Jacksonville, as we've noted, Gus Bradley hired Frank Scelfo, Foles' University of Arizona quarterbacks coach and closest advisor, to coach the Jags' QBs. But the immediate goal there is to develop Baine Gabbert, whom Jacksonville took 10th overall two years ago. The Jags might be interested in Foles next year, if Gabbert flunks what looks to be his final chance to establish himself as a starter, but for now, there is no indication anyone else will quarterback Jacksonville in 2013.
Foles might not have shown enough in his six 2012 starts to entice a strong trade package from any team that doesn't have someone who knows him well on its staff.
good trade for KC— urbnasty- so AR in kansas city trades for alex smith, who had the 49ers in the NFC championship game in 2011, and will likely beef up the chiefs' O-line in drafting joeckel or womack. howie roseman extends vick for another year, and will waste 4mm when he cuts asomugha. who's making the better decisions?
— hannibal barca - So you’re praising AR for a draft pick he hasn't made yet? Your stupidity grows daily — DogBiscuitthedope
- how soon philly fans forget Andy is the reason we have Vick in the first place, Andy is the reason we have Asomugha, Andy was in charge of drafting almost the entire time he was here, and always had last say in personnel decisions. The mess that was left here was Andy's doing. Andy got left a gem of a team in Kansas City, there's not much he needs to do to take that team to the playoffs, hes not a genius, he got lucky with that team, and the record will show after a few years of him being in charge of it since he has all the power there that he had in Philly. Didn't you wonder why the Eagles refused to let any interviewing coaches have full control of the team again? hmm.... sounds like a mistake the front office did not want to do again to me....
- Excellent post, lighterfluid. It seems that in their haste to condemn Roseman, many posters on this forum find it more convenient to forget that little fact or ignore it completely since it would totally invalidate and discredit their otherwise mendacious and anemic points. Too bad those fans were unable to see the obvious transparency of Reid's phony persona. You are 100% correct, Reid was not the genius that many seemed to want to bequeath him as. He was merely lucky enough to have inherited enough dedicated players from the Rhodes regime combined with the debilitated state of the NFC East at the time, to create an illusion of competence. After a few years, as you suggest, Reid will mirror the destruction to the Chiefs he managed to wrought to the Eagles if left to his own devices. — essell
- "Andy got left a gem of a team in Kansas City, there's not much he needs to do to take that team to the playoffs... he got lucky with that team..."
WHAT?!! The Chiefs were 2-14 last year. It took until mid-season for them to run a single play from scrimmage with the lead. You can't blame everything on Matt Cassel and Brady Quinn. Is Alex Smith so great that he'll turn that team around all by himself? Even the Kansas City Star says the Chiefs have to start over again almost from scratch and that it could take years before they contend.
— TexColorado - darn.....was hoping for another draft pick as we need sooooo much....
— nuggett - wow being foles was KCs first choice they could have at lest gotten a much needed second rounder for him. unbelievable— HDemetriou
- seriously? Are you equating Foles, who won a grand total of ONE GAME, with Alex Smith who was among the best in the league.
Foles was NEVER KC's first choice and thinking you would get a 2nd rounder is pure fantasy.— dfc1234567 - How to compare Foles to Smith? Compare Smith's games as a rookie to Foles. Smith was a disaster, 1 TD and 11 interceptions, and continued to be for several years (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Smith). Foles was getting the hell beat out of him due to no OL but he wasn't nearly the disaster that Smith was for years.
— oldfriar - dfc: if you knew anything you would know the chiefs were actively pursing foles, the the eagles said no, then they began going after alex smith — HDemetriou
- KC got a good one. Look out.— krautmef1
- "In any case, Reid is the only NFL decision-maker who definitely sees Foles as a viable starting QB,..." Did you survey every "NFL decision-maker" before making this statement? I doubt it.— Roll Tide!
- I was thinking the same thing. What a ridiculous statement.
FIRE LES!!!— mkat33 - lol, Les is probably RIGHT. He was just down at the combine talking to NFL GM's so I think he might have an idea on this. At it stands now Foles could only start for about 3 teams in the NFL, 3 of the worst teams in the NFL. JAC, OAK, and BUF, all of those teams might also be intersted in Vick, and all of them are terrible. Every other team has either a solid veteran starter or a guy they drafted recently that they are going to develop. So if only those 3 or 4 teams dont think Foles is a starter, pretty much no one else does in the NFL either as they are the most desperate there are. Foles is just not very good. But he also happens to be the best QB on the Eagles roster.
