While it looks like the Jacksonville Jaguars are gearing up for a quarterbacks competition between Gardner Minshew II and Nick Foles, others feel Foles could be traded this offseason. It’s a possibility that ESPN seemingly hasn’t ruled out either, as writer Ben Barnwell laid out some free agent domino scenarios where the Jags added a new starting quarterback and traded Foles.
Both scenarios were a result of the domino effect of Tom Brady moving on from the New England Patriots. In scenario No. 1, Brady signed with the Los Angeles Chargers as it was announced they would be moving on from Philip Rivers. In Barnwell’s scenario, this caused Rivers to sign with the Jags on a four year deal for $100 million, then dumping Foles and his salary off on the Indianapolis Colts via trade.
So on top of Rivers’ crazy contract, what did it cost to ship Foles you ask?
Well, the Jags shipped their No. 20 overall selection to the Colts to get them to eat the contract. Indy then packaged up their firsts to trade up for Tua Tagovailoa.
Simply put, there is no way the Jags would go for this. First and foremost, the only person the Jags need to be shelling out a $100 million contract to is Yannick Ngakoue, so they definitely wouldn’t burn that type of money on a struggling quarterback like Rivers.
Secondly, I could see the Jags trading Foles to their division rivals in the Colts, but definitely not at the expense of a first, second, or probably not even a third-round pick. This is something Jags Wire contributor Phil Smith and I actually discussed this week on the “Bleav in Jags Podcast.”
In the second domino scenario, Brady ended up with the Colts. That trickled into the Jags trading down with the Miami Dolphins at the expense of their 2020 first rounders and a 2021 first-rounder. The Dolphins also temporarily took Foles before the Eagles ended up back with him.
Again, this is a scenario that’s absolutely hard to see unfolding. While I haven’t completely ruled out general manager Dave Caldwell acquiring a quarterback (listen to the podcast), it’s still very unlikely. One thing that certainly won’t happen is him trading up for a quarterback at the cost of three first-rounders. Simply put, the pairing of Gardner Minshew II and Jay Gruden is intriguing and the rookie has done more than enough for Caldwell to trust him at least for the season of 2020.
Ultimately time will tell what the Jags do at quarterback, but based on Caldwell’s history, he probably won’t be giving up a ton of draft capital to do so — if at all. Their cap situation says they also won’t be paying a quarterback crazy money either, which strongly points to Minshew being their top option.