Foles hasn't spoken to Frank Reich about Colts trade... yet originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
Every time a quarterback goes down in the NFL, there are going to be questions about whether Nick Foles, a former Super Bowl MVP who has been relegated to third-string reps with the Bears, could be traded. Matt Nagy knows it, Nick Foles knows it. But what we didn’t know is that those trade conversations have already happened between Ryan Pace and opposing GMs.
“There were a couple of opportunities that came to be this offseason, with a couple of teams, but it wasn’t the right time,” Foles revealed in his press conference on Monday. “It wasn’t the right time, or the situation with what was going on in my life.
“In this league I don’t want to go to someone I don’t know. When you have a great coaching staff, it’s something special. Big reason we were great in Philly is we had a great coaching staff. We did really well. They put us in position to succeed, and it showed. I think everyone can say it showed. So, that being said I don’t want to just go somewhere where I don’t know them, I don’t know the offense.
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“I’ve gone down that road before and it’s not fun. There are plenty of quarterbacks that go down that road. You’ve got to be in something that you know, something that you’re comfortable with, so you can pull that trigger as fast as you can. If all of a sudden you’re out there in a game and you’re thinking through things, it’s too slow. The NFL’s too fast. You have to be able to just let it rip.
“I don’t want to just be traded to someone I don’t know and, ‘Oh, you get an opportunity to play.’ No, I want to be able to go somewhere where I know we’ll be successful because I know the people in there, I know what they stand for, I know who they are as human beings. That’s what you want. That’s what great teams are made of.”
While Foles wouldn’t go so far as to say he’s been a bad fit in Chicago, he made it clear he believes he’s a better version of himself now than when he won Super Bowl MVP with the Eagles. That, and he still does want more for himself, if it is the right situation.
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“Is aspiring to be a three what I want?” Foles said. “No, it’s not. I’ve shown what I can do. I’ve shown it in the right situation. A player wants to be in the right situation where he’s running what he wants to run and doing it the way he wants to do it, in complements to the coaching staff. But I’m in this situation right now where I’m the three.”
As it turns out, one of the coaches that Foles knows well, Frank Reich, may have an opening at the quarterback position. Reich was Foles’ offensive coordinator when he and the Eagles shocked the Patriots in Super Bowl LII. Reich is now the head coach of the Colts, and he announced on Monday his No. 1 QB, Carson Wentz, will undergo foot surgery and will be out for somewhere between five and 12 weeks.
“Frank Reich is one of my favorite, if not favorite, coaches of all-time,” Foles said. “He understands me as a player. He understands me as a person. But I haven’t had any talks with them. I’m a Chicago Bear right now but I think一 he knows me. Y’all watched the 2017 season and the playoffs where he changed the offense and built it around me, and y’all saw what happened. So, he understood my mentality as a player and he was able to build it around me and put me in a successful position, and my teammates.
“But that being said, they have Carson. And Carson and I have a lot of history, I have a lot of respect for Carson, he’s a tremendous player. He’s going through adversity once again, but he’ll bounce back and, you know what, he might miss a few games, but I know he’ll be back out there.
“But, we haven’t had any talks so right now I’m a Chicago Bear and I’m gonna keep slinging it with these third-stringers and we’re gonna dice ‘em up.”
Foles and Reich may not have had any talks as of noon on Monday, but who knows what tomorrow brings. In the meantime, Foles is going to keep working, keep grinding and keep slinging it.
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