The Indianapolis Colts, who signed Philip Rivers to a one-year contract, were previously in the market for Nick Foles, according to a report.
According to Dan Pompei of The Athletic:
“The Jaguars weren’t shopping Foles this year, but the Colts were bidding as well as the Bears. And others were in the mix, from what little birdies say.”
Foles, who has a career record of 26-22 as an NFL starter, has played eight years in the league.
Interestingly, the most games that the Austin, Texas native has started in a season is 11.
Nick Foles’ Career
Foles played in 40 regular-season games during his five years with the Eagles, and it was mainly as the backup for Michael Vick and Carson Wentz.
The 88th overall pick in 2012 played seven games in his rookie season and started six of them.
In the following year, Foles played 13 games and had an impressive Pro Bowl year.
He led the NFL in touchdown percentage, yards per pass attempt, and quarterback rating that season.
Foles also had his first taste of the playoffs in 2013, but he and the 10-6 Eagles fell, 26-24, in the wild card weekend matchup to the New Orleans Saints.
Foles then started eight games in 2014 and led a career-best three game-winning drives that season.
He went 6-2 when starting in his third NFL season to move his record to 15-9 as a starter before being traded to the Rams.
Then, after one year each with the St. Louis Rams and Kansas City Chiefs, he returned for his second stint with Philadelphia.
In Foles’ first season back with the Eagles, he jumped right in after Wentz was injured and led the franchise to its first Super Bowl championship.
He then played one more season in Philadelphia and had five starts and a 4-1 record before jetting off to Jacksonville.
Foles signed the biggest contract of his career: four years and $88 million with the Jaguars.
However, after Foles had seen plenty of starters get injured, he was the injured starter for Jacksonville.
He played just four games for the Jaguars in 2019 and has since been traded to the Chicago Bears to battle Mitchell Trubisky for the starting spot.
Is Philip Rivers the Better Choice for the Colts?
The Rivers vs. Foles debate could be an interesting one this year, especially because the Colts will travel to Soldier Field to take on the Bears in 2020.
Neither quarterback has the consistent ability to run for a first down:
Starting NFL QBs ranked by 40-yard dash time:
1. Kyler Murray (4.3, per himself)
2. Lamar Jackson (4.3, per Louisville spring testing)
3. Marcus Mariota (4.52)
4. Russell Wilson (4.55)
5. Cam Newton (4.59)
…
30. Philip Rivers (5.08)
31. Nick Foles (5.14)
32. Tom Brady (5.28)— Ian Hartitz (@Ihartitz) May 3, 2019
The two quarterbacks are the only players to ever throw 25 consecutive complete passes in a single game in NFL history:
Nick Foles tied Philip Rivers’ NFL record set earlier this season with 25 consecutive completions. Based on our Completion Probability model, Rivers’ streak was more improbable based on the level of difficulty of their throws:
Rivers: 1 in 85,469 (0.001%)
Foles: 1 in 567 (0.2%) pic.twitter.com/Qj8HexX6uA— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) December 30, 2018
For the Colts, signing Rivers meant that they did not have to deal away any players or draft picks to the Jaguars.
However, the 38-year-old may be on his way out of the NFL while the 31-year-old Foles seems to have a lot of football seasons ahead of him.
With Foles’ inability to play for an entire season, Rivers seems to be the better candidate to lead the Colts.
Indianapolis remembers all too well the struggles Luck had to stay healthy, and if Foles went down the same track with the Colts, it would be at least a few frustrating years.
Foles almost went from one AFC South team to another, but the Colts ended up going with Rivers.
If the Colts improve their offense in the 2020 NFL Draft by drafting a quarterback in the second round, then Indianapolis has a plan for its future signal-caller.
However, if the Colts are left with just Rivers and Jacoby Brissett as the team’s quarterback options for 2020 and possibly 2021, they may have wished they offered more in their trade offer for Foles.
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