The Kansas City Cheifs have a competition going on in camp with three young guns living out their hopes of taking the backup role behind starter Alex Smith. However, with the release of the Rams quarterback Nick Foles all of that could change.
And now it’s happened. Foles is a free agent. Experienced QB available. https://t.co/qDkB1RA3Ix
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) July 27, 2016
Nick Foles was an ex-Eagle and starter for Andy Reid, drafted by Andy Reid, and groomed by Andy Reid before his departure from Philly in 2012. So, the question now becomes, should the Chiefs sign Nick Foles to be their backup?
I should warn you up front, I am a fan of Nick Foles from his days in Arizona when he and Brock Osweiler were the hot guns in the Pac-12 conference. Foles at Arizona and Osweiler at Arizona State. However, it was Foles that I wrote a piece on that year called “K.C. Chiefs Prospect: Nick Foles.” Have a peak if you like. Obviously, I was hoping the Chiefs would draft Foles but instead, Andy Reid did.
While talking about Foles college numbers might be interesting to some, it’s his history with Andy Reid in Philadelphia that Chiefs fans may want to look to with interest. From 2012 to 2014, Foles started 24 games, threw for 6,753 yards (an average of 4,504 yards over and 8 game span) with 46 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. Foles also had a 61.6% passing completion rate over that span. While that’s not a superior percentage rate it;s not bad considering he went from Andy Reid to Chip Kelly during that time.
In February of 2013, the beginning of the Andy Reid campaign with the Chiefs, Mike Garafolo wrote a piece for USA Today called, “Chiefs Interested in Trading for Nick Foles” in which he said,
“The Chiefs and new coach Andy Reid are interested in acquiring Foles if he becomes available, according to a person informed of the team’s thinking. The person, who spoke to USA TODAY Sports on condition of anonymity because the Chiefs haven’t discussed their thoughts publicly, said the team is working on plans to add a quarterback and considers Foles a possibility.”
So, it’s fair to say the conversation about Nick Foles will be had in the next few days between Andy Reid and John Dorsey.
The bottom line is, the Chiefs are a bit cash strapped right now and other more notable cuts will presumably be coming at positions of greater need in the next 5 weeks. Of course, if Alex Smith goes down and the chosen backup doesn’t step up, it could end up looking like a bad choice not to take a guy who has league experience in Andy Reid’s system who could probably be had for very little. I’m also guessing that Nick Foles would welcome a chance to reconnect with Andy Reid as Reid is not the type of coach who players dislike once they leave him.
What do you say Chiefs fans? Are you interested in bringing in QB Nick Foles to be the backup quarterback? Why? Or why not?