Which Directions Could the Jaguars Take With Nick Foles in 2020?

How can the Jaguars address the Nick Foles situation in 2020?

By virtue of several crucial decisions the Jacksonville Jaguars will have to make in the coming months, the 2020 offseason has the potential to be one of the most interesting offseason periods in team history. Among the topics the Jaguars have to ponder the most during this time will be the fate of veteran quarterback Nick Foles.

Foles, 30, was signed to the most lucrative contract in the franchise's 25-year history last March, a four-year contract worth $88 million which included about $50 million in guarantees.

But after only 117 throws, Foles' future in Jacksonville may be up in the air. 

Foles suffered a clavicle injury on his eighth pass of the team's Week 1 game vs. the Kansas City Chiefs. This opened the door for rookie quarterback Gardner Minshew to shine in eight starts while Foles worked to return to the field. During this span, Minshew impressed with his ability to extend plays behind a shaky offensive line. Eventually, this came to play a big factor for Foles.

Foles returned in Week 11 and started the following three games. They lost in blowouts on the road to the Indianapolis Colts and Tennessee Titans and were then facing a 25-point deficit at halftime vs. the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In those 10 quarters, Foles was 72 of 109 passing for 661 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions and two fumbles. 

Foles was benched after the first half of the Buccaneers game and never played another snap in 2019. Jacksonville turned to Minshew, with head coach Doug Marrone saying Minshew's mobility played a large part in the decision. 

After less than five starts, the Jaguars had benched their $88 million quarterback for a sixth-round rookie. This was unprecedented. It changed the landscape of the Jaguars in not only 2019, but beyond. 

This leads to the question the Jaguars are going to face all season -- what can they do about Foles? 

Foles has said he intends to play in 2020, so the Jaguars essentially have three different options heading into the next few months.

Keep Foles and let him compete with Minshew

One obvious direction would be to let Foles return in 2020 and compete with Minshew for the starting job throughout training camp, and maybe even earlier in the offseason. The Jaguars save face this way, not having to create an exit strategy for a high-priced quarterback for the second season in a row. 

Of course, the smart money would be the theory that Foles wouldn't win the job. Marrone was retained last week and with him returning in 2020, one would presume he feels more comfortable with Minshew since he opted to start the rookie over Foles down the stretch in 2019. 

This would mean Foles, who is due nearly $22 million next season, would likely be the most expensive backup to enter a season in NFL history. The optics of that to the general public and to the locker room aren't great.

Foles could always win a competition against Minshew, but unless something drastically changes from 2019, this could be a long-shot.

Trade Foles

Another option could be to trade Foles. This could be to a quarterback-needy team, such as the Indianapolis Colts, or could be a deal similar to how the Houston Texans dealt Brock Osweiler in 2017. Houston traded Osweiler and his expensive contract to the Cleveland Browns. In addition, the Texans had to give up their 2017 sixth-round pick and 2018 second-round pick, all in exchange for the Browns' 2017 fourth-round compensatory pick.

As a result, Cleveland absorbed some of Osweiler's cap hit for the Texans in exchange for a premium draft pick and another pick. Jacksonville could follow this model, as they would likely have to sweeten the pot for a team to trade for Foles due to both his bloated cap figures and his poor play in 2019. 

A trade would help the Jaguars out a good bit from a financial standpoint. Foles' dead cap figure for 2020 would drop to $18.75 million if traded before June 1st, according to OverTheCap.com. It could also give Foles a chance to make a fresh start at an important stage in his career.

Cut Foles for a historic cap hit

The final option seems to be the most unlikely one on the surface. Jacksonville could cut Foles if the Jaguars decide to roll with Minshew and if they don't want to force Foles to endure another season on the bench.

Releasing Foles would amount to a $33.8 million dead cap figure, which Michael Ginnitti of Spoctrac listed as the largest figure in the NFL presently. 

Dead $ for Players in Question

Nick Foles, $33.8M
Alex Smith, $32.2M
Alshon Jeffery, $26.1M
Todd Gurley, $25.6M
Brandin Cooks, $21.8M
Drew Brees, $21.3M
Xavien Howard, $17.5M
David Johnson, $16.2M
Joe Flacco, $13.6M
Tom Brady, $13.5M
DeSean Jackson, $12.5M

— Spotrac (@spotrac) January 9, 2020

For context, when the Jaguars cut Blake Bortles last season they had to deal with a $16.5 million dead cap figure it was the largest total of dead cap for a single-player in NFL history. Cutting Foles would amount to basically twice of that, which would be an astonishing record for Jacksonville to own.

Jacksonville is already projected to be $1.511 million over the cap in 2020, so it wouldn't make much financial sense for the Jaguars to take on such a burden when there are much cheaper options available.