Nick Foles

West Rumors: Broncos, Keenum, Rams, Foles

April 15th, 2016 at 5:57pm CST by Luke Adams

With the Rams poised to use their newly-acquired No. 1 pick to select a quarterback, the Broncos might have some interest in Case Keenum, who had been in line to be the starter in Los Angeles, tweets Mike Klis of 9NEWS. Troy Renck of the Denver Post adds (via Twitter) that the Broncos had some interest in Keenum before the Rams placed a first-round RFA tender on the QB.

Even if the Broncos are interested in working out a deal for Keenum, it’s not clear if the Rams would be on board. With Carson Wentz or Jared Goff joining the team, the depth chart at QB will certainly be crowded, with the rookie joining Keenum, Sean Mannion, and Nick Foles. However, the Rams like Keenum enough that they may prefer to explore a deal involving Foles or Mannion.

In fact, when Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk asked Rams head coach Jeff Fisher whether Foles will be on the team’s regular-season roster in 2016, Fisher was noncommittal, but called it a “good question,” hinting that the former Eagle could be the odd man out.

Here’s more from around the NFL’s West divisions, including a few more Rams-related notes:

Rams general manager Les Snead said today during an appearance on ESPN Radio that his team is “97% sure” about which player will be the first overall pick, as Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com tweets.
As part of the trade for the No. 1 pick, the Rams agreed to send a 2017 third-round pick to the Titans. According to Paul Kuharsky of ESPN.com, that third-rounder will be a compensatory pick, since those comp picks can be traded beginning in 2017, and the Rams expect to get one for losing Janoris Jenkins. If L.A. doesn’t get a third-round comp pick, the team will send its own pick to Tennessee, and get a 2017 seventh-rounder back from the Titans.
The Broncos are expected to re-sign free agent safety Shiloh Keo when their offseason program gets underway next week, reports Nicki Jhabvala of the Denver Post (via Twitter). Keo, who signed in Denver last December, was arrested for driving under the influence in February.
The Rams hosted Iowa tight end Henry Krieger-Coble for a pre-draft visit today, according to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link).
While the Chargers are viewed as a near-lock to select Ole Miss tackle Laremy Tunsil if he’s on the board at No. 3, Michael Gehlken of the San Diego Union-Tribune explains why Tunsil may be a bit of a “messy fit” in San Diego. Gehlken makes some good points, but given the Chargers’ offensive line woes in recent years, it would still be a surprise if they pass on the draft’s top tackle.

Rams Acquire No. 1 Pick From Titans

April 14th, 2016 at 9:14am CST by Luke Adams

9:14am: After initially suggesting the Rams would likely grab Carson Wentz with the first overall pick (as noted below), Sam Farmer and Matt Miller have walked that back a little. Farmer tweets that he believes the Rams are leaning toward Wentz, but cautions that Jared Goff remains “heavily in the mix,” while Miller cites multiple sources who believe the Rams prefer Goff (video link).

Peter King tweets that the Rams “have not decided with certainty” which player they’ll take with that No. 1 overall selection, which seems somewhat hard to believe, given the haul the team gave up to land that pick. Presumably, the Rams at least have a pretty good idea which player they’ll be drafting.

8:04am: With two weeks to go until the 2016 draft gets underway, a new team will be on the clock to open day one. According to Peter King of TheMMQB.com (via Twitter), the Titans have traded the first overall pick in the draft to the Rams. Tennessee has confirmed the swap.

According to Jim Wyatt of TitansOnline.com, the Rams will get a fourth-round pick (No. 113) and sixth-round pick (No. 177) from Tennessee, in addition to the No. 1 overall pick.

In exchange, the Titans will receive the 15th overall pick this year, two second-round picks (Nos. 43 and 45), and a third-round pick (No. 76). Tennessee will also get Los Angeles’ first-round pick and third-round pick in 2017.

Four years after the Rams landed a huge haul of draft picks when they sent the No. 2 overall pick – and the right to draft Robert Griffin – to Washington, Jeff Fisher‘s club is on the other side of a blockbuster deal that will likely allow the club to land a quarterback. Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times and Matt Miller of Bleacher Report (Twitter links) suggest North Dakota State signal-caller Carson Wentz is believed to be the top target for the Rams, though Cal’s Jared Goff also figures to be considered.

Fisher, GM Les Snead, and the Rams have insisted throughout the offseason that they’re comfortable with Case Keenum as their starting quarterback, and while Keenum may still get the opportunity to win that job, it seems the club has tacitly acknowledged that he’s probably not the long-term answer at the position. As for Nick Foles, he could end up falling to third on the Rams’ QB depth chart, or even fourth depending on how the team feels about Sean Mannion‘s development, which likely makes Foles a trade candidate.

The Titans, meanwhile, have indicated for weeks that they were open to moving down in the draft, with reports earlier this week suggesting they had one or two promising trade offers on the table. GM Jon Robinson also said earlier this month that he wouldn’t mind completing a deal sooner rather than later, to give his team plenty of time to map outs its new approach to the draft.

It’s hard to know which players will be available at No. 15, but the Titans have reportedly done plenty of homework on offensive tackles, and could be hoping to land someone like Ronnie Stanley or Jack Conklin. Still, with three second-round picks, Robinson and his team could go in a number of different directions.

While the deal will allow the Rams to make a huge splash as they make the move west to Los Angeles, it also shakes things up for other teams at the top of the draft. If the Browns want to take a quarterback, and the Rams prefer Wentz, Cleveland would presumably opt for Goff. And if the Rams and Browns do both go the QB route, that would allow top prospects at other positions, such as Laremy Tunsil, Jalen Ramsey, and Joey Bosa to all still be on the board beginning at No. 3.

Of course, if the Browns aren’t committed to taking a QB, and another club covets Goff, Cleveland could now receive increased trade interest in that No. 2 overall pick. Essentially, the blockbuster Rams/Titans swap blows up most mock drafts and creates a handful of new scenarios for day one of the draft.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Sunday Roundup: Foles, Hillman, Jets

April 10th, 2016 at 1:05pm CST by Rory Parks

With a potential Colin Kaepernick trade to the Broncos on hold for now, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk wonders whether Rams signal-caller Nick Foles could be a fit in Denver. Per Florio, a source with knowledge of the Rams’ quarterback dynamics has already predicted that Foles likely will be gone by the start of training camp, and that he definitely will not be on the team before Week One.

Foles’ $6MM roster bonus was paid on March 11, but that bonus was already fully-guaranteed, so the only additional obligation arising from keeping Foles into March 2016 came from his base salary, which is a modest $1.75MM (if Foles is traded, of course, that base salary goes with him). So the Broncos, who are asking that Kaepernick reduce his $11.9MM salary for 2016 to $7MM to facilitate a trade, could have Foles for just $1.75MM in 2016 (not including $4.5MM in incentives, but if Foles were to earn those incentives, the Broncos certainly wouldn’t be complaining).

Of course, the Broncos are not as strapped for cap space now that they have traded Ryan Clady, and as Florio points out, Denver may not have inquired into Foles simply because he played so poorly in 2015. As far as the Rams are concerned, Florio believes they will “squat” on Foles unless and until they draft a quarterback later this month, at which time the two sides will likely part ways.

Now for some more notes from around the league on this Sunday afternoon:

Free agent running back Ronnie Hillman, who has not found much of a market for his services, could be returning to the Broncos, according to Mike Klis of 9News.com, who reports that the two sides have exchanged contract proposals. Troy Renck of The Denver Post confirms the report (via Twitter), and he also tweets that head coach Gary Kubiak expressed an interest in retaining Hillman last month. Both Klis and Renck say that Denver will draft a running back later this month regardless of whether Hillman returns.
A jury in a civil trial Friday decided a California woman, Christin Myles, failed to prove that Jets WR Brandon Marshall assaulted her outside a Manhattan nightclub four years ago, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter (via Twitter) and Larry Neumeister of The Associated Press (article via The Denver Post). Myles had sued Marshall, who was not in court for the verdict, for unspecified damages.
The Jets are working out free agent wideout Kyle Williams today, per Rich Cimini of ESPNNewYork.com (via Twitter). Williams was drafted by the 49ers in the sixth round of the 2010 draft and is best-known for his two fumbled punt returns in the 2011 NFC Championship game. He sat out the entire 2014 season and signed with the Broncos prior to the 2015 campaign, but he tore his ACL last August and missed the entirety of the 2015 season as well.
Like a number of other NFL scribes, Mary Kay Cabot of The Cleveland Plain Dealer believes the Browns will draft a quarterback with the No. 2 overall selection in this month’s draft and have that player compete with the newly-acquired Robert Griffin III. Cabot also believes the team will look to move Josh McCown on draft day or sometime thereafter; in any event, she does not expect Cleveland to string McCown along through training camp.
There are a number of free agents still available that might help the Giants address their remaining needs, but as Paul Schwartz of The New York Post writes, GM Jerry Reese is likely to continue ignoring free agents who may have another season or two left in the tank but who are otherwise past their prime, like Anquan Boldin, Owen Daniels, and Nate Chandler.

QB Rumors: RGIII, Foles, Romo, Luck

March 4th, 2016 at 3:54pm CST by Luke Adams

At least 10 teams are giving Washington signal-caller Robert Griffin III “a hard look,” sources tell Mike Freeman of Bleacher Report. Griffin is a strong candidate to be either traded or released in the coming days, and there are teams around the league who feel like they can remake RGIII both on and off the field, according to Freeman.

While no team will want to trade for Griffin and pay his $16MM+ salary for 2016, that figure remains non-guaranteed until next Wednesday, so there could be resolution on the quarterback’s situation soon. As Dianna Marie Russini of ESPN.com tweets, Washington wouldn’t want more than a conditional late-round pick in a trade, so if a team can negotiate a reworked contract as part of a deal, it could be worth parting with that pick to get a leg up on all the clubs waiting for RGIII to be released.

As we wait to see what happens with the former No. 2 overall pick, let’s round up a few more Friday items on quarterbacks around the NFL, including the guy who was selected before Griffin in 2012…

With the Rams currently counting on Case Keenum to be their starting quarterback, Nick Foles could almost certainly be had in the right trade. Ian Rapoport of NFL.com suggests (via Twitter) that the Dolphins, the Cowboys, and Washington would be among the teams with interest if Foles were available. It’s hard to imagine any of those teams giving up anything of value for Foles though.
Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, who will go under the knife next week, intends to undergo a “Mumford procedure” on his collarbone, rather than having a plate inserted, writes David Moore of the Dallas Morning News. Mike Fisher of CBSDFW.com had reported that Romo would undergo the plate insertion, which involves a set of screws and a plate being inserted to protect the bone. However, Moore says that while the plate remains an option, the plan for Romo is the Mumford procedure, which would involve shaving off or removing a portion of the distal clavicle.
Andrew Luck‘s looming extension will change the Colts‘ cap outlook drastically going forward, but the team has been anticipating that jump in its quarterback salary for several years. Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star takes a closer look at how the Colts are approaching the deal, and how it will affect the rest of the team’s offseason plans.

Rams Rumors: Keenum, Foles, Ogletree

February 24th, 2016 at 8:10pm CST by Zachary Links

Here’s a look at the Los Angeles Rams:

Jeff Fisher reiterated that Case Keenum is going into the 2016 season as the starter, as Zach Berman of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweets. Still, he says that veteran Nick Foles has a chance to compete for the job. The Eagles were rumored to have trade interest in Foles earlier this month, but even if they did like Foles, his cap number and dead money charge mean that a trade is unlikely.
Still, Fisher says there’s a “good chance there will be one, maybe two new quarterbacks on roster” by training camp, as Vincent Bonsignore of the Los Angeles Daily News tweets.
The Rams have a meeting scheduled with Alec Ogletree‘s agent this week at the Combine, per Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (on Twitter) and he says an extension is looming. Ogletree, 25, suffered a right ankle injury in the fall and underwent surgery to repair the damage. He was placed on IR-DTR but he did not return later in the year. The Rams will have to decide on Ogletree’s fifth-year option for 2017 this year.

Eagles Haven’t Discussed Nick Foles Return?

February 8th, 2016 at 8:18am CST by Zachary Links

On Sunday afternoon, it was reported that the Eagles were discussing a possible reunion with quarterback Nick Foles. However, according to one Eagles beat writer, that is simply not the case. The Eagles have not had internal talks about pursuing Foles, who is now a member of the Rams, according to Zach Berman of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

The buzz about a Foles return began less than 24 hours ago when ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that new head coach Doug Pederson was interested in making that a reality. Schefter also heard that the Eagles will not use the franchise tag on Sam Bradford if the two sides cannot reach an agreement on a new contract. Berman hears that no decision has been made with regards to using the tag on Bradford. If the Eagles do use the tag on him, they’ll be on the hook for roughly $20MM in 2016.

Bradford, who came to the Eagles in the trade that sent Foles to the Rams, struggled out of the gate in his first season in Philly, though he did play much better in the second half of the year as he grew more comfortable in Chip Kelly‘s offense. Kelly, in his capacity as head coach/personnel executive, was responsible for bringing Bradford to the Eagles, but Kelly was fired before the end of the season. Pederson has taken his place on the sidelines and displaced VP of football operations Howie Roseman regained his authority over personnel matters and it would make sense that both men would want to hand-pick their own QB. However, things still appear to be fluid with regards to Bradford.

Pederson was on Philadelphia’s staff when the team drafted Foles in the third round of the 2012 season, and he served as Foles’ quarterbacks coach that year. Roseman, of course, was in charge of the front office during that period. Foles, for his part, was an abject failure in his first season with the Rams, completing just 56.4% of his passes and throwing seven touchdowns against ten interceptions in 11 games. He did, however, sign a two-year extension with the club prior to the beginning of the 2015 campaign, so he remains under contract through the 2017 season.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Clarification On Nick Foles’ 2016 Cap Charge

February 7th, 2016 at 8:43pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Earlier today, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reported that new Eagles head coach Doug Pederson has interest in bringing Rams quarterback Nick Foles back to Philadelphia. That report was met with some skepticism, based not only Philadelphia’s apparent interest, but on Los Angeles’ cap situation were they to trade Foles, so it’s worth clearing up Foles’ contract status.

After acquiring Foles from the Eagles last offseason, the Rams in August signed him to an extension, locking him up through 2017 (that final season could void based on personal and team performance, but for this discussion, that note is largely irrelevant). As part of the multi-year deal, Foles received a guaranteed $6MM roster bonus, to be paid on the third day of the 2016 league year (which falls on March 11).

Whether or not the Rams will be responsible for that roster bonus on their 2016 cap is based entirely on when they would potentially trade Foles. If they dealt him to the Eagles before March 11, Philadelphia would take on the bonus, and thus add $6MM (plus 2016 Foles’ base salary of $1.75MM) to its cap. If Los Angeles waited until after March 11 to trade Foles, it would take on the $6MM charge in the form of dead money.

Obviously, we can’t speak to the veracity of the report indicating the Eagles’ interest in Foles. But if the Rams do hope to trade Foles to Philadelphia (or any club), they need to do so before March 11, and incur only $2MM in dead money (the result of Foles’ signing bonus accelerating onto their cap). Otherwise, a trade would result in $8MM in dead money for Los Angeles, a charge that wouldn’t be palatable given that Foles’ 2016 cap number if he’s on the roster is $8.75MM, just $750K more.

Thanks to Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap both for providing this article clarifying Foles’ contract, and for answering further questions via email. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Eagles Unlikely To Franchise Sam Bradford, Interested In Nick Foles?

February 7th, 2016 at 12:44pm CST by Rory Parks

12:44pm: It appears that Bowen’s skepticism may have been well-founded. McLane says the Eagles have not yet made a decision on Bradford, and Foles’ cap number ($8.75MM) and dead money hit ($8MM) would make a trade highly unlikely (Twitter links). In a full-length piece, Bowen says the same thing, writing that there is “no chance” that Philadelphia will reacquire Foles.

12:00pm: The Eagles are not expected to use the franchise tag on Sam Bradford if the two sides cannot reach an agreement on a new contract, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter (via Twitter). However, Schefter reports that Philadelphia does have “some” interest in re-signing Bradford.

Bradford, who came to the Eagles in the trade that sent Nick Foles to the Rams, struggled out of the gate in his first season in Philly, though he did play much better in the second half of the year as he grew more comfortable in Chip Kelly‘s offense. Kelly, in his capacity as head coach/personnel executive, was responsible for bringing Bradford to the Eagles, but Kelly was fired before the end of the season and the team hired Doug Pederson to take his place on the sidelines while displaced vice president of football operations Howie Roseman regained his authority over personnel matters. As such, two of the team’s biggest decision-makers have no real commitment to Bradford.

On the other hand, Pederson was on Philadelphia’s staff when the team drafted Foles in the third round of the 2012 season, and he served as Foles’ quarterbacks coach that year. In a second tweet, Schefter reports that Pederson is interested in bringing Foles back to the Eagles. Foles, for his part, was an abject failure in his first season with the Rams, completing just 56.4% of his passes and throwing seven touchdowns against ten interceptions in 11 games. He did, however, sign a two-year extension with the club prior to the beginning of the 2015 campaign, so he remains under contract through the 2017 season.

Neither Foles nor Bradford represents anything close to a perfect solution, but Bradford was clearly the superior player in 2015, and the fact that he managed to stay largely healthy and continued to improve down the stretch indicates that the team would be better off retaining him rather than attempting to reacquire Foles. That is especially true if Bradford can be had for a one-year deal, as former NFL agent Joel Corry suggested at the end of January. Even if the Eagles’ decision not to tag Bradford is understandable–after all, a $20MM commitment is a steep price for an imperfect player with a considerable injury history, and Bradford could always hold out–any attempts to bring back Foles at the expense of Bradford would be considerably less justifiable.

Nonetheless, it is worth noting that Roseman is known for his intentional misdirection, as Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweets, and now that he is back in charge of personnel matters, it is probably wise to take reports like this one with more than one grain of salt. Indeed, Les Bowen of the Philadelphia Daily News has made his skepticism on the matter quite plain in a series of tweets.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Rams GM Talks L.A., Coliseum, Keenum, Foles

January 29th, 2016 at 9:28am CST by Luke Adams

Rams general manager Les Snead is in attendance at this week’s Senior Bowl to complete some prep work for the 2016 draft, but Snead has more on his plate than most GMs around the league this year, as his team prepares to pack up and make the move from St. Louis to Los Angeles. Gary Klein of the Los Angeles Times spoke to Snead about the relocation to L.A. and a number of other Rams-related topics, so let’s dive in and check out a few of the GM’s more noteworthy comments.

On playing in the Coliseum while waiting for the Inglewood stadium to open:

“The Coliseum is such an historic place; that will be neat for our players. I think our players will really enjoy being outdoors. And judging from the initial ticket [deposits] and having a relatively full Coliseum, any pitfall there is, all those things will outweigh it by a long shot.”

On any concerns about how moving to a large market like L.A. will affect players:

“I’ve definitely thought about it because it’s a larger market with more distractions…. I do know that some of the teams have been very, very successful in L.A., on the field, on the court and in the rink. So it’s proven that you can be a professional athlete and be young and still thrive…. I definitely think it would be prudent to go out and visit some of those teams and see how they handle it and go from there.”

On the possibility of re-signing quarterback Case Keenum, who is a restricted free agent:

“That is a goal. We’re not going to let him go somewhere else.”

On keeping Nick Foles as a backup “at something like $12-13MM”:

“His contract is not exactly that. I don’t want to get into the exact numbers, but it’s about half of that [Ed. note: Foles is owed a $6MM roster bonus and $1.75MM base salary in 2016]. There’s a lot of things that get written about contracts. The answer from a salary standpoint is, yes, he’s easily keepable.”

On the possibility of drafting a quarterback early this spring:

“You definitely have to prepare that you might do it.… Sometimes with QBs we’ve seen some very successful ones go in the second round, and the third round seems to be hot of late. I’m thinking of Russell Wilson. I’m thinking of Kirk Cousins [fourth round]. So the thing about the draft is, because it’s become a nice entertainment segment … there’s so much attention on the first round, especially at the QB position, that sometimes the third-round QB, it’s ‘Oh, he’s a third-round QB.’ But the long story short on all of that is we’ll definitely scout QBs, and we’ll definitely look at the trade market and free-agent market.”

On whether the Rams’ offensive line is mostly set:

“The answer is yes…. Last year we went into [the draft] needing [offensive linemen]. Four of our five starters from the 2014 team, when we went to draft, still weren’t on our roster for various reasons. We needed to draft, develop some guys and let them grow together … we think we’re on our way to see it come to fruition.”

NFC West Notes: Rams, Boldin, Cardinals

January 27th, 2016 at 12:17pm CST by Luke Adams

Before he threw a single regular-season pass for the Rams, Nick Foles signed a two-year extension that ensured he wouldn’t be eligible for free agency this winter. Although Foles is sticking around, he won’t be handed the starting quarterback job in 2016, according to Rams general manager Les Snead.

Appearing on SiriusXM NFL Radio from the Senior Bowl, Snead told Mark Dominik and Alex Marvez that he expects Foles, Case Keenum, Sean Mannion, and any other offseason QB additions to battle for the No. 1 job this summer (link via Marvez at FOX Sports). “If I learned one thing last year, we should have let the quarterbacks have a competition from the start and the best man win instead of just passing the torch to Nick,” Snead said.

The Rams are paying Foles like the starter, as the former Eagles will count for $8.75MM against the cap in ’16. By comparison, Mannion will have a cap hit under $1MM, while Keenum – a restricted free agent – likely won’t make more than $2-3MM. Still, it sounds like Foles’ higher price tag won’t guarantee him anything.

Let’s round up a few more items from around the NFC West…

49ers wideout Anquan Boldin, who is eligible for free agency this winter, spoke briefly to Chip Kelly after the new head coach joined the team, but said today that he has yet to engage in negotiations with anyone from the Niners’ front office about a new contract. Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle has the details, along with Boldin’s quotes.
Former Missouri edge defender Michael Sam plans to take “one more shot” at making an NFL roster this year, he tweeted on Tuesday. Sam became the first openly gay player to be drafted when he was selected by the Rams in 2014.
After bringing him in for a workout last month, the Cardinals have tried out defensive back Joel Wilkinson again, tweets Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle.
Earlier today, veteran Cardinals long snapper Mike Leach announced his retirement. Our full story can be found right here.

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