Peter King's WMQB--On the Trade

[CGI_Ram]

Why the Bradford Trade “took the angst in (Philly) to a whole other level”
Ike Reese joined Kevin Wheeler to talk about the trade with the Eagles and Rams, the vibe in Philly on Bradford, why Reese likes the deal for the Rams, Kelly’s issue with Nick Foles, perspective of fans and players on Chip Kelly.

Listen to Philly View of Trade

This is worth a listen if you hadn't. Ike Reese is a big Foles fan.

 

[ramsince62]

I don't know and admittedly it's wishful thinking, or maybe it's just an never ending optimism "that maybe, just maybe", after reading about Foles character and work ethic, plus his finesse (touch) on the football, dare I suggest that (just maybe) he might become a taller Warner?

And be able to find Tavon?

 

[RamBill]

Bernie: No matter its outcome, trade good for Rams, QB
• By Bernie Miklasz

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/colu...cle_9be228b7-ae21-59bd-88fe-f7a518ba65d4.html

According to one flash-reaction poll taken of Philadelphia sports fans, 85 percent disapproved of the Eagles’ trade that sent quarterback Nick Foles and a 2016 second-round draft choice to St. Louis for QB Sam Bradford.

Actually, considering that it’s the ferocious Philly market we’re talking about, the term “disapproved” is an understatement. Better word choices would include irate, disgusted, inflamed, offended, enraged.

Philadelphia is America’s toughest, roughest sports town. Perhaps Bradford can avoid injury. (I’m referring to the games ... and not out in the parking lot as he makes his way past angry Philly fans.) And if Sam stays healthy and proves to be a good fit for coach Chip Kelly’s fast-twitch spread offense, the gang green will embrace him.

If this fascinating experiment goes poorly, Bradford might regret his decision to reject the Rams’ desire for a pay cut. I don’t know if the Rams did him a favor here.

Bradford never had a top receiver to play ball with in St. Louis, and now he’ll join a Philadelphia offense that just traded two-time All-Pro running back LeSean McCoy and lost No. 1 wideout Jeremy Maclin to free agency.

We wish Bradford well.

It was time for a change.

For him ... for the Rams ... and for Rams fans. After being drafted No. 1 overall in 2010 and raising hopes with a promising rookie of the year season, Bradford was beaten up and beaten down and never fulfilled the vision of a franchise-foundation player.

The Rams never put much of an offense around him, with wide receivers, tight ends and offensive linemen coming and going like trucks on Interstate 70.

But even if he’d had a better cast, it wouldn’t have mattered much because Bradford couldn’t hold up physically. He played in only 23 of the 48 games since Jeff Fisher became the Rams’ coach in 2012. And if you include Bradford’s final year (2009) at Oklahoma, he’s started only 52 of a possible 93 games over the past six seasons.

Bradford fatigue set in a long time ago here, and he wasn’t going to shake it. The Rams paid Bradford $65 million in salary and bonuses for a grand total of 18 victories scattered among his 49 starts.

There was another cost: by clinging to the belief that Bradford eventually would pay off, GM Les Snead and Fisher failed to cultivate a legitimate alternative at quarterback.

It was time to put an end to this maddening, frustrating and unfortunate cycle. Fortunately for the Rams, Kelly bailed them out by making a generous trade for what’s left of Bradford’s career.

I’m not sure what to expect from Foles — more on that later — but this was an offer that Snead-Fisher couldn’t refuse.

The Rams won the deal for a simple reason. A team tight on salary-cap space wasn’t seeing a reasonable value for its investment. Another $13 million salary for 2015 wasn’t going to protect Bradford’s twice-repaired left knee and insure his viability and success.

That salary represented a double whammy. With the Bradford burden the cap-strapped Rams couldn’t rebuild their barren offensive line to reinforce the chance of keeping Bradford safe and upright.

With the Bradford trade, and the release of center Scott Wells and offensive tackle Jake Long, the Rams suddenly had $28 million of cap room with which to play. This doesn’t guarantee a successful O-line retooling by Snead and Fisher, but at least they’ll have a better chance to get it right.

And to collect a second-round draft pick from Kelly as part of this transaction? For a quarterback many believed should have been cut by the Rams for purely financial reasons? No wonder why Eagles fans are barking.

After delivering a remarkable performance in 2013, Foles regressed last season. He struggled with accuracy, suffered a broken clavicle and missed the final eight games.

I don’t know exactly what the Rams are getting in Foles. Will Foles be closer to his 2013 form, or did he play at a more expected level in 2014? Was Foles a product of Kelly’s system, or is he capable of evolving into a true franchise-caliber quarterback?

Foles was 14-4 as a starter under Kelly. Over the past two seasons, only Seattle’s Russell Wilson and Denver’s Peyton Manning had a higher winning percentage among NFL starting quarterbacks.

In the Kelly offense Foles enjoyed throwing to wide-open receivers, striking for 40 touchdown passes and only 12 interceptions in his 18 starts. He was voted to the 2013 Pro Bowl. He played well in a narrow 2013 playoff loss to New Orleans, putting his team into a lead that was squandered by the defense and special teams.

And while it’s true that Foles benefited from the presence of quality offensive performers and Kelly’s creative touch, it also is factually correct to say Bradford hasn’t come close to putting up the kind of season that Foles produced in 2013.

Critics say that Foles lacks quickness, is vulnerable to pressure, and can’t thrive in a standard (read: non-spread) offense. I’m not sure about that. A Fisher quarterback must excel in throwing play-action passes, and Foles has done that.

Over the last two seasons Foles had 21 touchdown passes, three interceptions, averaged a lofty 9.1 yards per attempt and a golden passer rating of 115.6 on his play-action attempts. That looks like a potential fit for Fisher ball.

And with a 2015 salary of $1.5 million, Foles is cheaper than many backup quarterbacks.

But if Snead and Fisher flunk their prime offseason test — revamping the offensive line — then Foles won’t be as effective. The development of a powerful offensive line by Snead-Fisher is long overdue.

This was a very good trade, if only because it gave the Rams a fresh start at a hopelessly stagnant position. And they have the fresh salary-cap capital needed to improve the roster.

But to make this is a great trade — and possibly a transformative one — the Rams’ bosses must give Foles the strong foundation that Bradford never received here.

Foles can become a free agent after the ’15 season. The Rams have a year to find out if he is the long-term solution — or destined to become the latest victim.

 

[jrry32]

Bernie: Getting to know Nick Foles
• By Bernie Miklasz

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/colu...cle_1902aabb-1c64-5cb1-93f8-57376ec7bc2f.html

Here's a scouting report on the Rams' new quarterback acquired from Philadelphia on Tuesday in exchange for QB Sam Bradford...

1. Foles was born on Jan. 20, 1989 in Austin, Tex. and is a graduate of Westlake High School in Austin. Notable Westlake alums include New Orleans QB Drew Brees, Baltimore place kicker Justin Tucker, Tampa Bay tight end Kyle Adams, actress Angela Bettis, MLB reliever Huston Street, and retired MLB third baseman Kelly Gruber.

2. Foles, who is listed at 6-5 or 6-6 — depending on the source — was a star basketball player in high school. A three-year starter and two-time team MVP who was recruited by Texas, Baylor and Georgetown (among others.)

3. Foles' parents, Larry and Melissa Foles, have done very well in the restaurant business. Larry Foles was co-founder of Eddie V's Prime Seafood in Austin, a successful upscale establishment that now has 13 locations. Six are in Texas but other Eddie V's can be found in Chicago, San Diego, La Jolla, Calif., Orlando, Tampa, Scottsdale AZ, and Northern Virginia. According to media reports Foles and partners sold the restaurants to a corporation that owns other chains including Red Lobster, Olive Garden and The Capital Grille. Reported sale price: $59 million.

4. Foles is married to Tori Moore, a former volleyball player at Arizona. (They met there as students.) She is the sister of former NFL tight end Evan Moore.

5. Foles is a devout Christian and a genuinely humble person. When asked how he handles the highs and lows of playing a demanding QB position Foles said: "I'm a Christian. It's my faith in Christ. I'm into scripture every day. I have great players around me. And great parents that have raised me. And people that have surrounded me throughout my career who helped shape who I am. That's who I go out there and play for every single day. I don't play for myself. I play for my teammates and play for the people that helped me get to where I am. I know they're watching me every week, and I want to play for them. It's just in my heart and that's who I am.

"I'm very fortunate to be playing, and I know that any given day could be the last. And I'll be thankful for the time I have had to play this game. But I'm going to give my all every single day. So why would I let my confidence (fluctuations) and frustrations affect me when I know it's only a short time where I can play this game. And it's not worth getting all distraught and mad and going too high or too low. I just want to be me. That's it. Simple as that."

6. Foles isn't a live-wire personality on or off the field. If you want a fist-pumping QB that shrieks at teammates and opponents, then this isn't your guy. Fans that disliked Sam Bradford's low-key personality will be getting the same in Foles. In Philadelphia, "Friday Night Lights" author Buzz Bissinger stirred things up by writing that Foles "has an aura of softness about him." Bissinger recommended that Foles "man up to be the man."

Here was Foles' response at the time: "I don’t agree with it just because I think a quarterback and leader and anything it’s not necessarily what you do with the limelight or anything. Obviously, handling yourself in an appropriate matter is very important for you and your teammates, but I’ve always believed that you need to be who you are.

“If you’re a guy who loves to go out and be at everything and do that and you can be a great player and great leader as well, that’s awesome because that’s naturally what you’re great at, that’s naturally what you want to do. See, if I were to go and do all that stuff, that’s sort of out of my norm.

“I’ve always been a laid-back Texas boy. I love my family. I love being with my family. That’s what I stick to. I love the game of football. I love getting better. My teammates know me because I show them who I am in the locker room and then I don’t change when I go on the field.”

Foles had declined a one-on-one interview request with Bissinger before Bissinger wrote the piece.

7. According to the Eagles' media guide, Foles lists "Where the Red Fern Grows" as his favorite book. Favorite film? The cartoon version of "Scooby-Doo." In an interview with ESPN, Foles said his favorite Disney movie is "Lion King." His favorite meal? Fried catfish. (He'll be able to find plenty of that in the St. Louis area.) Foles also has, at least in the past, been a devotee of Bikram yoga.

8. Coming out of high school in 2007, Foles initially committed to Arizona State. But he had a change of heart and signed with Michigan State. After a season in East Lansing, Foles transferred to Arizona, got a chance to start during the 2009 season, and was the Wildcats' full-time starter in 2010 and 2011. He was a communications major at Arizona.

9. Here's a scouting report from the respected quarterback analyst Greg Cosell, who described Foles as a limited talent in a 2014 interview:

"I think if you look at Foles the player, what you likely see is this: He's got a good arm but not a gun; he's not a power thrower, not a drive thrower. He's a little more of a finesse thrower than a drive thrower," Cosell said "He does not have quick feet. There is no quick-twitch to his movement. There's no explosive lower-body movement to him. When you look at Foles, I think what you see is a quarterback that needs the system to work for him and provide defined reads and good throws with the route concepts, just the whole system. He needs the system to work for him... I don't think he's really any different (from 2013.) Because he's not a quick-twitch guy, when he doesn't feel comfortable making a throw he'll start to look a little awkward because he's not quick twitch, he moves around."

10. Foles is a workaholic. At Arizona, coaches had to tell him to ease off on lifting weights. He's consumed by video scouting of opponents and has been known to have teammates over for film study.

11. Daniel Jeremiah, formerly a scout with the Eagles, had this to say (in part) in his official scouting report filed to the team before the 2012 draft: "Mentally, excellent smarts, knows what everybody is doing on the field, understands fronts and coverages. ... outstanding worker, sets a tone in the weight room ... great character ... He’s all about football. Always at the facility. He was there when I was visiting with the (Arizona) QB coach. He wanted to see one particular play that bothered him from practice, so he showed up, came right into the room with his ice bag on his arm. Has the wide receivers over all the time to watch tape and eat at his apartment. Pays for their food ... Foles is a clear leader of the team."

12. Foles' 2013 season was, in many respects, one of the finest by a QB in NFL history. Some highlights: Pro Bowl selection, Pro Bowl Offensive MVP, league passer-rating leader (119.2), two-time selection as NFC Offensive Player of the Week, had the 60th "perfect game" (as in passer rating) in NFL history, was ranked at No. 70 in the NFL Network's list of Top 100 players in the league at the end of the 2013 season. Also: Foles tied an NFL record with seven TD passes in a game, had the best single season TD-interception ratio (27:2) in NFL history, and posted the best-ever passer rating (152.8) for a calendar month (Nov. 2013.)

13. Foles wasn't nearly as effective in 2014, throwing 13 touchdowns and 11 interceptions with a passer rating of 81.4 before his season ended after eight games because of a broken collarbone. Cosell suggested that NFL defenses made some changes in how they played against Foles in 2014 after getting a chance to study the 2013 version of Foles and the Eagles offense.

"Because all of this was new to defensive coordinators, we all agree that it looked last year like there were a ton of open receivers, which doesn't happen that much in the NFL," Cosell said. "And he needs the system to work for him."

14. Here's an excerpt of Bissinger's 2014 profile of Foles in Philadelphia magazine:

"The truth was, Nick Foles was something of a nerd (in high school), a guy who hung around with a small posse of mostly non-football nerds — eggheads, kids who would go on to careers in finance and private equity and engineering. A hot Saturday night was getting together at his house to play video games like Call of Duty, or hanging out at Zilker Park on the shores of Lady Bird Lake. 'Dude, come on, you’re the quarterback, go out and have some fun,' high-school teammate Matt Nader pleaded with him, fruitlessly.

"He was the kid you wanted dating your daughter, because he would have her home at 9:30 after you said 10. He was socially awkward, with a naive and goofy sense of humor. He dressed as if he had never seen clothes before. His hair was oddly styled in an ersatz pageboy, curling below his ears like a drainage ditch and covering his forehead in uneven wisps, thin grime on a windshield. His face was a cup of Napoleon Dynamite and a tablespoon of golly-gee-willikers and a teaspoon of Gomer Pyle."

15. Eagles coach Chip Kelly had no problem trading Foles the quarterback. But Kelly was a big fan of Foles the person. "I wish there were more people like Nick Foles in our lives," Kelly told the Philadelphia media last November.

Thanks for reading ...

— Bernie

Whoa. Bernie actually wrote a good article.

 

[Stranger]

erhaps Bradford can avoid injury. (I’m referring to the games ... and not out in the parking lot as he makes his way past angry Philly fans.)

Just can't avoid the freaking cheap shots, can you Bernie. What a Schmuck.

 

[Mojo Ram]

If Bradford stays healthy Chip will look like a genius. Bradford is the absolute perfect fit for the hurry up and we all know he has elite tools. If Bradford gets hurt Kelly will be the hot college coaching candidate. A win win scenario for him.

All I want out of Foles is Alex Smith. I like him as a QB, but I never see him a a top 10 guy. We don't need that though. Fisher and Snead went the safe route I can't blame him. I'm a Bradford guy so I'm depressed, but I can't argue with the logic.

Exactly. Right now we need a QB who can play 16 gms and not make crucial mistakes with the ball. That could have been Sam(plus a whole lot more) but like you and like Fisher...enough is enough. No more gambling on a gimpy QB.

 

[RamBill]

So who won the Bradford-Foles trade?
Posted by Michael David Smith on March 13, 2015, 8:55 AM EDT

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/03/13/so-who-won-the-bradford-foles-trade/

In a week full of surprising moves in the NFL, none came as a bigger shock than the news that the Eagles had traded quarterback Nick Foles to the Rams for quarterback Sam Bradford.

At first, many assumed that the deal also included the Eagles getting the Rams’ first-round pick (No. 10 overall), and that it was the first step toward Eagles coach Chip Kelly moving up in the draft to select Marcus Mariota. But when the dust settled and the final compensation was revealed, that turned out not to be the case at all. It was the Rams who got the better draft pick haul: The Eagles are sending a fourth-round draft pick this year and a second-round pick next year to St. Louis and receiving a fifth-round pick this year and (depending on Bradford’s health and playing time) either a third- or fourth-round pick next year.

So the Eagles get Bradford, the Rams get Foles, and the Rams get the better end of the draft pick compensation. In other words, Kelly thinks Bradford is better than Foles. Throw in the fact that the Eagles have to pay Bradford $13 million this year, while the Rams only have to pay Foles $1.5 million this year, and Kelly must like Bradford a lot better than Foles. For all of Kelly’s talk about salary cap constraints explaining his decision to trade LeSean McCoy and cut Todd Herremans, Trent Cole and Cary Williams, Kelly traded away his starting quarterback and draft picks to take on Bradford’s huge cap hit.

Considering that, and considering that Foles’s career passer rating is 94.2 while Bradford’s is 79.3, and considering that Bradford’s injury history is significant, it’s hard to see what Kelly is thinking.

But maybe he’s thinking this: Bradford is an elite quarterback talent, and Foles isn’t. It wasn’t that long ago that Bradford was the first overall pick in the draft and the NFL’s offensive rookie of the year. Foles is a former third-round pick whose skill set is more limited. Based purely on talent for the quarterback position, Bradford is better than Foles.

If Bradford turns out to be the player everyone thought he’d be when he was the rookie of the year in 2010, this will turn out to be a great move by the Eagles. If Foles turns out to be the player he was as a Pro Bowler in 2013, this will turn out to be a great move by the Rams. If both players disappoint — or if both players turn out to be their new teams’ franchise quarterbacks — the tiebreaker goes to St. Louis, which got the better draft picks and saved cap space in the process.

So tell us what you think, PFT Planet. Did the Rams win the trade by getting Foles plus cap space and picks, or did the Eagles win the trade by getting Bradford?