Santoliquito: Trading Nick Foles Would Be A Mistake
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — The speculation has run rampant over the last three weeks as to whether or not the Eagles should trade Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles.
Sure, the Eagles may get a third-round pick for Foles, who was nothing short of amazing in Super Bowl LII. But what still ominously hovers in the background is the future of Carson Wentz.
Letting go of Foles without having a good idea where Wentz is would be a monumental mistake by the Eagles, and the Eagles management knows it.
Wentz is the future of this team, there are no questions about that. In two years he's become the face of the Eagles and one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. But over the last three seasons, he's played football, including his fifth-year senior season at North Dakota State, he's missed 11 games (eight with a broken right wrist at North Dakota State and three last year with the Eagles with a torn ACL in his left knee).
Related: Howie Roseman On Nick Foles: 'Our Intention Is To Keep All Good Players'
Wentz likes to gamble and put his body at risk. He won't change. He shouldn't have to, because that's what makes him exciting. It also makes him vulnerable.
The Eagles will need to exert patience as Wentz rehabs and works his way back. If it were up to Wentz, he'd be taking snaps the first day of training camp. Eagles' management knows better, as do the medical staff when it comes to proper healing process an ACL takes.
In the meantime, Foles has obviously proven he can win.
He seems to be okay with his current role and has said more than a few times that the Eagles are "Carson's team." Wentz, Foles and Nate Sudfeld have a great rapport with one another.
Recently departed Eagles' quarterback's coach John DeFilippo, now the Minnesota Vikings' offensive coordinator, calls the trio the "best quarterback's room" in the NFL.
The Eagles do hold great faith in Sudfeld. He's a mobile, more athletic version of Foles. What he lacks, at this stage in his development, is Foles' poise and experience.
The Eagles are primed to be Super Bowl contenders again this season. They have arguably the best offensive line in the NFL. They have the best risk-taker in head coach Doug Pederson—and they also have the security in knowing that if they're Super Bowl-caliber franchise quarterback were to go down again or isn't exactly ready for the start of the season, they have a Super Bowl-MVP quarterback backing him up.
What other teams in the NFL can say that? What other team in the NFL has that much security for the most important position on the field?
In other words, Nick Foles stays.
