Frank: Eagles still have time on QB decision
Eagles coach Chip Kelly saw Nick Foles' trials and tribulations in the first half last Sunday just like everyone else. The Eagles quarterback missed open receivers, held onto the ball too long, lost two fumbles, and threw an interception. Foles hardly looked like a franchise quarterback. Then in the second half, he did.
It's a question that's going to be asked for a while. Remember, Kelly has never officially anointed Foles as the franchise quarterback, and the Eagles aren't heavily invested in him. So nothing is guaranteed for Foles, even after he had one of the best seasons for a quarterback in NFL history in 2013.
Foles is making $750,000 this season, a mere pittance compared to the multi-millions that teams have committed to other quarterbacks around the NFL. Foles is eligible for an extension after the season, but the Eagles don't have to give him one. They can let him play out the final year of his contract in 2015 for $795,000 before having to decide on his future.
That means the Eagles can take a quarterback in the draft next spring and give him the chance to compete with Foles. If Foles wins out, great. If not, it won't cost them much to move on.
Look at it this way: Foles was taken in the third round of the 2012 draft, so the financial commitment was much less than if Foles had gone in the top five of the first round. Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck, whom the Eagles will face Monday night, went first overall in that draft. He's guaranteed $22 million over four years.
The Colts don't mind that investment because Luck is clearly their franchise quarterback. But what about Cleveland's decision to draft Brandon Weeden 22nd overall in that same draft? They gave him a four-year, $8.1 million contract, then cut him after last season (he's now with the Cowboys). This past May, they drafted Johnny Manziel 22nd overall and gave him a four-year deal worth $8.25 million.
That's nearly $16.4 million for one quarterback who's no longer on the team and another who's not starting. That limits what the Browns can do elsewhere.
The Eagles don't have that problem. Backup quarterback Mark Sanchez is making $2.2 million this season, but can leave as a free agent afterward.
That makes this season an audition for Foles that can last through next season, too.
If Foles plays well over that timeframe, and Kelly decides that he's good enough to be the quarterback for the next several years, then he can get the multi-million dollar extension like San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick did last spring.
If not, there should be plenty of good quarterbacks in the draft, although it's unlikely that the Eagles will be bad enough – or have enough trading resources – to get Marcus Mariota, who played for Kelly at Oregon, and most likely would be a franchise quarterback. Mariota is expected to be one of the first players taken in the draft.
So Kelly can certainly look at Foles' first-half performance last Sunday and perhaps compare it to the first preseason game against the Chicago Bears, when Foles threw two interceptions in his three offensive series, and wonder if a bad trend is developing.
Or Kelly can look at it like Foles did, that it was a bad start, and that he turned it around in the second half, when the Eagles scored all of their 34 points (one touchdown came on a fumble return by defensive lineman Fletcher Cox).
"I was inaccurate on a few throws," Foles said about the first half. "But all the stuff I saw on film is very correctable."
That proved to be true last season. Foles had his worst game against Dallas, throwing for just 80 yards through three quarters before getting knocked out with a concussion. He came back two weeks later and tied an NFL record with seven touchdown passes against Oakland.
There is still plenty of time this season for Foles to prove that he's the Eagles' franchise quarterback. Just like there's still plenty of time for Kelly to decide that he needs to keep looking for one.
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com.
Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.