The St. Louis Rams and Eagles pulled off a big trade on Tuesday with Nick Foles and Sam Bradford switching teams and the deal included multiple draft picks heading to the Rams from Philadelphia and this now gives the team more cap space to work with in free agency.
According to ESPN.com, the Eagles traded Foles along with a fourth round pick this year and a 2016 season round pick. The Rams traded Bradford along with a fifth round pick for the 2015 draft. The trade has some conditions, as ESPN reports that the Eagles can get a conditional pick in 2016 if Bradford plays less than 50 percent of the snaps. Bradford is coming off of his second season while dealing with ACL surgery and Chip Kelly clearly thinks he will be healthy.
Foles comes in after winning 14 games while playing under Chip Kelly over the last two seasons and now he takes over as the Rams starter. The Rams have some solid young talent with Tre Mason and Tavon Austin and now they have a new quarterback. Foles dealt with a collarbone injury last year and started eight games, throwing for 13 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Foles had 27 TDs and just two picks in 2013 and the Rams are hoping he can put up numbers like that in 2015.
Bradford missed the whole 2014 season after tearing his ACL last year and he is one year older than Foles is. One reason the Eagles likely looked into the Bradford trade was the connection between the QB and offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur, who was with Bradford earlier in his career. The Eagles moves LeSean McCoy and that opened up some cap space and allowed the move for Bradford, as he is getting paid $13 million for 2015.
Foles will cost just $1.52 million and that could allow the Rams to look to free agency for depth in other areas. The Rams brought in Case Keenum in a trade with the Houston Texans, according to ESPN.com and he likely will serve as the backup for Foles. The Eagles may look at moving Bradford to get Marcus Mariota, but after the draft picks the team gave up, that looks unlikely.
