The Philadelphia Eagles may consider a Nick Foles trade this offseason and teams like the Houston Texans, St. Louis Rams, Tennessee Titans and Browns could be options and this comes as head coach Chip Kelly is hoping to trade up for Marcus Mariota in the draft and he may use Foles and running back LeSean McCoy to get it done.
Foles said that he expects to be the starting quarterback for the Eagles next year, but Kelly may have other plans for him. According to NJ.com and Pro Football Talk, Kelly may try and move Foles in the hopes of getting Marcus Mariota in the draft and one team that could be interested is the St. Louis Rams. NJ.com reported interest from the Rams, Houston Texans and Tennessee Titans in Foles and Kelly could look at trading him after he had a down 2014 season.
Foles was injured and played in just eight games, but he declined from where he was in 2013. Kelly reportedly was not sold this season on Foles as the long term starter and now he could look at moving on from him after two seasons. Foles has won 14 games in two years under Kelly and this past season he split time with Mark Sanchez, who came in to take over when Foles was knocked out. The speculation about Kelly and Mariota has been growing all year and it comes from the fact that Kelly has a unique offensive system and worked with Mariota in college at Oregon.
NJ.com reported a couple weeks ago that Kelly and the Eagles were "plotting" to make multiple moves to get Mariota. The Eagles have a mid-first round pick and likely would need to get to the first two picks for a chance at Mariota. That is a tough task for any team, but the Eagles have trade options with Foles, all of their draft picks and possibly LeSean McCoy. According to Phil Sheridan at ESPN.com, McCoy will be asked to restructure his deal this offseason and if that doesn't happen, he could get moved.
Sheridan also added that while McCoy is one of the best running backs in football, Kelly has shown over his years at Oregon and with the Eagles that he can be successful with all types of backs. If Kelly thinks that Mariota is the "perfect" player to fit his system for the Eagles, he should have no concerns with trading away pieces to get him. The Eagles won 10 games last season and that was not good enough to make the playoffs and while Kelly would have to give up a ton to get Mariota, if he thinks he can be a franchise quarterback it could be worth it. The Rams have a top 10 pick and have been interested in Foles and that could be one way Kelly tries to move up.
According to NJ.com and Pro Football Talk, the Eagles may have interest in Jake Locker this offseason. Kelly will need to bring in a new backup even if he keeps Foles, as Mark Sanchez is on the market and he is not expected to return. Locker comes in after four up and down years with the Titans and he has dealt with injury issues the past two seasons. Kelly saw Locker up close while coaching against him in the Pac-12 and he could look at him as a backup option for Foles or a bridge for Mariota if he can get him.
