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Eagles Committed To Wentz As Their Starter Going Forward
As NFL.com's Kevin Patra noted, it might have been perfunctory, but Doug Pederson said what needed to be publicly acknowledged: The Eagles are Carson Wentz's team.
"Carson is the quarterback going forward," Pederson stated matter-of-factly on Tuesday.
Patra went on to remind readers that Wentz missed the final five games of the Eagles' season, including playoffs, with a back injury after the 2017 campaign ended prematurely following an ACL tear. With Nick Foles guiding the Eagles to playoff victories in each instance, the question of the future at quarterback hovered over the franchise entering the offseason.
Foles' future with the Eagles remains murky.
"In Nick's case, listen we'd love to have everyone back throughout the roster, but as I've said many, many times, it's not about one guy, it's about the team and we're going to do what's best for the team," Pederson said.
As Patra pointed out, it's presumed Foles will head to free agency, either by the Eagles declining his $20 million option, or the quarterback opting to buy his work freedom through his own $2 million buyout. Whether he'd elect to remain as Wentz' backup, eschewing the chance at a bigger payday and a full-time starting role, remains a wild card with a quarterback who has found his most consistent success under Pederson.
The future in Philly sits with Wentz, who was playing at an MVP-caliber level before his ACL tear in 2017. It's possible the quarterback's back issue stemmed from returning from the knee injury, but neither Pederson nor GM Howie Roseman delved into that speculation Tuesday.
Despite the injuries that have curtailed the past two seasons, Roseman is confident the franchise quarterback can bounce back in 2019.
"We have a lot of confidence in Carson and his ability to be our quarterback and to be hopefully a 19-game starter when we look at the season what we're trying to do," the GM said. "That being said, coach from the day he came here, quarterback is always going to be a priority position for us, we're always going to try to have talent at that position. We've got great quarterback teachers in this building. We're always going to be look at that spot and trying to improve, like any other spot that's important to our football team."
Entering the fourth year of his rookie contract, Wentz has one more season as a relatively cheap commodity before his salary begins to increase. Roseman said an extension for Wentz this offseason isn't off the table despite the injury concerns.
"We're gonna look again and have a meeting with the coaching staff this week and talk about kind of where we are and what we're trying to do going forward," he said. "We haven't had a lot of substance in those conversations and because we want to have relationships with our players where we keep those talks close to the vest, I don't know that it will be helpful to talk about any player about what we want to do. Obviously, it's our job to keep as many good players here for as long as we can. In their prime and guys we drafted, those are guys who are always going to be a focus for us."
The focus for Wentz is returning fully healthy from an injury that once again thrust Foles into the spotlight in Philly.
As for Foles. ... According to Profootballtalk.com's Mike Florio, if, as it appears, the Eagles will play out his’ contractual situation in a way that allows them to control his rights for 2019, Foles needs to be sure that everyone realizes that he has plenty of power.
From the Eagles exercising a $20 million option for 2019 to Foles invoking his right to buy his freedom for $2 million to the Eagles applying the franchise tag at $25 million or so, Foles should make it clear that he will gladly sign the one-year tender, refuse to sign a long-term contract with the Eagles or someone else that doesn’t take into account the $30 million or so he’d make under the tag in 2020, and prepare to go year to year, Kirk Cousins-style, until Foles gets a fair contract from whoever holds his rights or a chance to hit the open market.
Florio went on to contend that still only 29 years old (he turns 30 in five days), Foles has several years left in the NFL. It’s time for him to finally get a financial reward for his actual and potential contributions, and if the Eagles intend to apply the franchise tag as a precursor to trading Foles, Foles needs to make it clear that he’s no longer going to be a passive participant in the business aspects of his career.
"Once that franchise tag is applied and accepted," Florio summed up, "Foles will have real leverage. And he will need to use it."
It will be a major storyline in coming weeks.