The Chicago Bears are acquiring former Super Bowl MVP quarterback Nick Foles from the Jacksonville Jaguars for a compensatory fourth-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, multiple media outlets reported on Wednesday.
The Jaguars are moving on from Foles just one season into a four-year, $88 million deal signed in March 2019. Jacksonville will have to absorb $18.75 million in dead money in 2020.
While the move signifies that the Jaguars are turning the keys over to second-year quarterback Gardner Minshew, it also brings into question the future of Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky.
Chicago coach Matt Nagy said in February at the NFL Scouting Combine that Trubisky would face competition this year. Trubisky is coming off of labrum surgery to repair a shoulder injury he sustained in Week 4 last season.
Foles cracked his collarbone in the regular-season opener in September against the Kansas City Chiefs, opening the door for Minshew to take hold of the position.
The 31-year-old Foles threw for just 736 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions in four games last season. He has passed for 11,901 yards with 71 touchdowns and 35 interceptions in 58 games with the Philadelphia Eagles (2012-14, 2017-18), then-St. Louis Rams (2015), Chiefs (2016) and Jaguars (2019).
Foles has been the subject of the highest praise from Nagy. Foles played for Nagy in Philadelphia and Kansas City. When Foles got to Kansas City and didn’t have a car, he used Nagy’s ride. They met when Foles was a rookie and Nagy was with the Eagles as a coaching intern.
“Nick is as good of a human being as you will find. You want to talk about people who do things the right way,” Nagy said of Foles in January 2019. “He’s somebody who cares about others, somebody who just wants to play for the love of the game.”
Trubisky, 25, completed 63.2 percent of his passes for 3,138 yards, 17 touchdowns and 10 interceptions last season.
The 2017 first-round pick (No. 2 overall) has a 23-18 career record as the Bears’ starter, completing 63.4 percent of his throws for 8,554 yards with 48 touchdowns and 29 interceptions. He made the Pro Bowl and led Chicago to the NFC North division title in 2018.
Chase Daniel, Trubisky’s backup last season, is expected to sign with the Detroit Lions after the new league year opens Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET.
–Field Level Media
