NFL Rumors: Andy Dalton extension sets up payday for Nick Foles?
By Hayden Kane
Is one season of outstanding production from Nick Foles enough for us to believe that he is just as good as or better than Andy Dalton?
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Does the fact that we even consider that a question a terrible sign for the Cincinnati Bengals after they signed Dalton to a deal that can be worth as much as $115 million over six years? That is unclear and subject to opinion, of course, but the fact of the matter is that Dalton’s extension might lay the groundwork for Foles to get paid after the 2014 season.
Geoff Mosher of CSN Philly writes the following about the comparison between Dalton and Foles and what it might mean for a potential contract down the road.
"Dalton has a career 60.9 completion percentage and 85.7 passer rating, which are both worse than Foles’ career averages, albeit Dalton has 1,630 career pass attempts to Foles’ 582. Foles has completed 62.5 percent of his passes and has a career passer rating of 101.If Foles comes close to duplicating his 2013 season and wins a playoff game or two this year, he can expect to cash in with a contract that blows Dalton’s away and mirrors the haul Kaepernick got from San Francisco."
Whether Foles is a product of Chip Kelly’s system or not doesn’t much matter here, because he would presumably be signing an extension to keep playing in that system. That is not to say by any means, however, that it is a given for Foles to duplicate his great season and then “win a playoff game or two.”
The market for middle-to-upper tier quarterbacks is unfolding before us, with a deal for a guy like Dalton getting teams around the league thinking about what it will take to lock up their guy at the most important position in sports. That will include Foles and the Eagles soon enough.