NFL Rumors: Nick Foles Unlikely To Be With The L.A. Rams

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Phillip Dengler
http://www.inquisitr.com/2981416/nfl-rumors-nick-foles-unlikely-to-be-with-the-l-a-rams-this-season/

With the 2016 NFL draft only a few weeks away, rumors regarding the Los Angeles Rams and what they are going to do with the No. 15 overall pick have been spiraling. After finishing with a 7-9 record last season, the Rams are looking to bounce back in the extremely competitive NFC West division. While the team had a lot of problems last season, one of the biggest issues was the poor play at the quarterback position. According to league insiders, quarterback Nick Foles is likely to be traded or released before the start of the Rams’ 2016 season.

As previously reported by the Inquisitr, the Rams have been linked to Memphis Tigers quarterback Paxton Lynch, North Dakota State Bison quarterback Carson Wentz, and California Golden Bears quarterback Jared Goff. While there is a chance that Lynch falls to the Rams at pick No. 15, the team would have to trade up in the first round in order to have a chance at drafting Wentz or Goff. Regardless of which college quarterback the Rams ultimately draft, the team is in desperate need of help at the position.


View: https://twitter.com/SNFonNBC/status/719194933052092416

After trading Sam Bradford and draft considerations to the Philadelphia Eagles for Foles and draft considerations, the Rams felt as though they found their franchise quarterback. During his 2013 season, Foles had one of the best seasons for a quarterback in NFL history. His 27 touchdowns and two interceptions were unlike anything that a quarterback had done in the past, and it appeared as though he was the next great signal caller in the NFL.

Injuries shortened Foles’ 2014 season, but he was still held in high regard among many executives around the league. While St. Louis has not been the ideal place for a quarterback over the past decade, Foles was not good last year. In 11 games, he threw for 2,052 yards, seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions. His 30.0 QBR and 69.0 quarterback rating were the worst figures of his career, and it appears as though the Rams lost confidence in him.


View: https://twitter.com/AllbrightNFL/status/717130179366158336

As ProFootballTalk reports, league sources believe that Foles will not be with the team when the Rams take the field on their first game.

“On one hand, Foles already has earned a $6 million roster bonus for 2016, and his $1.75 million base salary for the coming year is fully guaranteed. On the other hand, there’s a sense that Foles has been tabbed as the odd man out, with Case Keenum, Sean Mannion, and whoever the Rams draft filling out the primary three spots on the depth chart for the first year back in L.A. One source with knowledge of the dynamics already has 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. So why haven’t the Rams already moved on? For starters, the $6 million roster bonus was fully guaranteed as of last year. The only extra obligation arising from keeping Foles into March 2016 came from the base salary. If Foles is traded, the base salary goes with him.”​

As CBS Sports reports, Rams head coach Jeff Fisher has already announced that Case Keenum will be the team’s starter for 2016. At 28-years-old, Keenum has not exactly proven over his career that he has the talent and skills to be a competent NFL starter. Throughout his three-year career with the Houston Texans and Rams, Keenum has only played in 16 games. He has thrown for 3,023 yards, 15 touchdowns, and nine interceptions. He also has an unusually high eight fumbles. While his career numbers are not awful, he is probably not the quarterback that the Rams have in mind for their long-term future.

While Nick Foles is likely to remain on the Rams until at least the upcoming NFL draft, rumors will continue to come out regarding his future with the team. If Foles is released, expect him to sign cheap with another team in a backup role.

 

[Dodgersrf]

I think he'd be a good fit for Dallas.

Foles just looked lost season.
He looked as though he didn't know the offense.
Was that all on Foles? Do we pin that on Cignetti? I think it was both.

Let him go play and learn behind Romo.

Throw him in on a deal with Dallas, to move up.

 

[A55VA6]

I think Foles has talent but he looked awful for the most part here. Just wasn't a fit.

 

[12intheBox]

My favorite rumor of the offseason so far.

 

[Akrasian]

While the article isn't controversial, this annoys me:

As CBS Sports reports, Rams head coach Jeff Fisher has already announced that Case Keenum will be the team’s starter for 2016.

Yet another reporter not spending a minute to fact check something important to his article. Fisher announced that Keenum would be the starter going into OTAs, not that he would be the starter for the 2016 season. If he gets something so easily checked wrong, how can we trust any "facts" the author gives us?

 

[OldSchool]

Day 2 of the draft trade for a pick to Dallas or Denver prediction here.

 

[CGI_Ram]

Foles looked good early last year. I think he is very capable, in the right fit.

Agree with others; Dallas makes real good sense. Denver another possibility if Kaeperdick is not traded to them... Gives them some competition.

 

[Ram Man]

While the article isn't controversial, this annoys me:



Yet another reporter not spending a minute to fact check something important to his article. Fisher announced that Keenum would be the starter going into OTAs, not that he would be the starter for the 2016 season. If he gets something so easily checked wrong, how can we trust any "facts" the author gives us?

Exactly. The guy's article just basically refers to Florio's PFT piece. Florio's piece itself cites only "One source with knowledge of the dynamics...". The writer has no new info or any source of his own. This is just speculation put in writing for clicks.

That said, I think Foles is capable of playing better than he showed last year. How much better I don't know. He'd benefit from a change of scenery and from an offense around him that wasn't as awful as the Rams was last year. Rams may keep him depending on how the draft and preseason go down. They're stuck with paying him $6M this season. That's true even if they cut/waive him and his $1.75M salary get claimed by another team. He has very little value as a trade piece at this point. If the Rams cut him he may be looking at a league minimum deal elsewhere.

I don't want to see him in a Rams uniform when the regular season starts. It's possible that he performs well in the off season and at the same time another QB gets injured or performs poorly. The $7.75M guaranteed they'll have to pay him also helps Foles' odds of being retained a lot. I believe his dead cap number could be in the neighborhood of $9-10M if Foles gets cut and doesn't play elsewhere this season. Player's with dead cap numbers even close to that large aren't often cut.

 

[den-the-coach]

Day 2 of the draft trade for a pick to Dallas or Denver prediction here.

I like the Chiefs gotta feeling he'll be reunited with Andy Reid.

 

[pmil66]

Fisher traded Zack Stacy, who was the RB starter just after Gurley was drafted. May be a clue on how Foles is handled if a new QB is drafted early.

 

[Loyal]

You guys forget that Foles looked decent before the Green Bay game...He was beaten like a rented mule that day, and was never the same....and yes, after we move up and get WENTZ, there will be no place for him..

 

[Rams43]

I think Foles ultimately gets traded.

But, as flv says, might be post draft.

Won't bring much, in any case. Maybe just a 7th. Maybe a conditional '17 pick.

As an aside, it's interesting how QB's seem to have 9 lives, huh?

I predict that there will be a team or two that believe that they have the QB development skills to salvage Foles. And probably believe that Foles was improperly handled by the Ram staff.

And it's true that he looked pretty good under Reid and Kelly. Sooooo...

I could see Foles as a sweetener in a trade up with Dallas to #4.

I could also see him wind up with a team whose staff "speaks QB". Chiefs and Broncos come to mind, but there are others.

 

[Mackeyser]

I was gonna say that. I could see him being a sweetener in a trade up because he has performed and he did play pretty well before that abysmal Clay Matthews spearing.

This league knows you NEED 2 QBs. Ask Dallas. Ask Green Bay. A Franchise QB isn't enough.

So I could totally see Foles being traded as part of moving up. His salary is only $1.75M. It's guaranteed, but that's a small gamble in the search for a backup QB who can actually play. That said, I can also see them angling for Denver's 2nd rounder if they get Aced trying to get a QB with their first rounder. People here wouldn't give a ham sammy for Foles, but around the league he may still have value as a backup/potential reclamation starter. I'd leverage that as much as possible.

 

[blackbart]

I'm still not convinced that the Rams will pick a QB in this draft. That would leave an opening for keeping Foles for another year since the money is already sunk. As @LoyalRam mention he didn't look bad the first couple of games and had us riding high heading in to GB. Was he hurt? He certainly could not make many throws, if it was physical and not a mental melt down I could see them trying to fix him one more time before giving up and trading him. Maybe they keep him until someone has a major injury and is desperate? It happens every year.

 

[JackDRams]

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

it appears as though the Rams lost confidence in him.

Yeah think?

You guys forget that Foles looked decent before the Green Bay game...He was beaten like a rented mule that day, and was never the same....and yes, after we move up and get WENTZ, there will be no place for him..

The book on Foles in Philly was he had cement shoes on. So a heavy rush would negate him. As soon as a team executed that heavy rush it was all over for Foles. Ditto for Austin Davis. Keenum has enough mobility to avoid the rush and make too many blitzes dangerous for many teams.

 

[Elmgrovegnome]

He made defenders miss. He was much more elusive than Foles. Now I am not saying he is anything like Russell Wilson mind you.