Nick Foles, who helped lead the Philadelphia Eagles to a win in the Super Bowl following the 2017 season, is about to find a new NFL team.
According to ESPN, the 30-year-old quarterback, who was voted the MVP of Super Bowl LI, will become a free agent later this month when the NFL's new year officially begins, and is expected, barring an unforeseen development, to sign with the Jacksonville Jaguars, presumably becoming their new starter and supplanting Blake Bortles in that role.
The Eagles, after a disappointing defense of their world championship that ended with a playoff loss to New Orleans in the divisional round, were weighing their options at quarterback.
Carson Wentz, who has started each of the last two seasons as their first string QB, is recovering from a back injury that forced him to miss the tail end of the season, and Foles has voiced his desire to be a full time starter after filling in admirably for Wentz in the last two postseasons.
"I would love to lead a team," Foles said at the end of the 2018 season. "The starter thing, leading a team, impacting a locker room ... that's why we play the game -- to impact people, to create an atmosphere."
The Eagles considered trading Foles, but were concerned that they wouldn't be able to come to terms on a deal they would find satisfactory. So they instead decided to not use the franchise tag on him, which will mean that he becomes a free agent later this month.
Nick Foles' NFL career has been a long, strange trip
A native of Austin, Texas, Foles started his college career at Michigan State in 2007, playing in only one game. He then transferred to Arizona, where he redshirted the 2008 season, and after backing up Matt Scott the first three weeks of the season, Foles became the team's new starter for good.
He didn't show any real promise, however, until his senior season in 2011, when he completed 69.1 percent of his passes and threw for 4,334 yards and 28 touchdowns.
Drafted in the third round of the 2012 NFL draft by the Philadelphia Eagles, Foles was solid at times, but largely unimpressive, despite getting a Pro Bowl bid in 2013, his second season.
He was traded to the Rams for the 2015 season and struggled so much that he thought about retiring at season's end.
Instead, he found his way back to Philly for the 2017 season, backing up Carson Wentz. With the Eagles riding high late in the season, Wentz went down with a season-ending injury, but Foles kept them going strong all the way into the playoffs, which culminated with their first ever Super Bowl win.
Nick Foles is likely headed south
According to league rules, NFL teams can start talking to prospective free agents on March 11. They can start entering into contracts with them on March 13, which is the official start of the new league year.
The Denver Broncos, who are coming off a hugely disappointing 6-10 season, were thought to be a potential destination for Foles, but instead traded for another Super Bowl-winning quarterback, the Baltimore Ravens' Joe Flacco.
Another team that was rumored to be in the market were the Eagles' NFC East rival New York Giants, who are weighing what to do with an aging Eli Manning. One of the reasons Philadelphia was considering putting the franchise tag on Foles was to keep him from signing with New York.
