Ranking Nick Foles’ best potential landing spots in 2019
By Ian Wharton
1. Washington Redskins
From purely a schematic and on-field fit, the Washington Redskins are the best landing spot for Nick Foles. Jay Gruden gets a lot of heat but has built a quarterback-friendly offense with two quarterbacks and a rotation of playmakers. The Redskins’ injuries have often zapped their season more than the coaching.
As stated earlier, there are many similarities between Foles and Cousins. Foles will keep the offense on time and moving, and offers significantly better clutch play than Cousins had with the team. Of course, the health of Alex Smith also looms over the team.
Smith’s horrific leg injury has been made more difficult than expected due to an infection, but he’s now “unlikely” to be ready by then. Josh Johnson held his own decently, but the team should explore whether they can get out from Smith’s horrible contract and start finding an upgrade as soon as possible.
If Smith won’t be back for 2019, Gruden still needs to compete and reach the playoffs this season. Foles is his best pathway to getting there, giving the team reason to spend and invest over $40 million into the position between Smith and Foles.
The biggest problem comes down to the financials. If Smith does come back healthy at some point, any guarantees for Foles or Smith beyond this season will prove costly. It’s not possible to roster both if they’re healthy, and cutting Smith, depending on his contract language, may not even be feasible until next year.
The team is also sitting at $21 million in space and needing to re-sign several free agents and their eventual draft class. Restructures can help, but releasing underperforming veterans will help more. It’s unclear whether Dan Snyder is willing to let go of Josh Norman and Jordan Reed because of their names but he should.