Michael Lombardi has been one of the most outspoken critics of Mitch Trubisky in recent months. So one can imagine he was feeling particularly good about himself from what everybody watched on Sunday against the New Orleans Saints. Trubisky looked lost for most of the game and seemed totally unable to rescue the Chicago Bears from their first blowout of the Matt Nagy era. The best part is the former GM started out by saying he wouldn’t talk about Trubisky’s shortcomings in his recent The Athletic article.
Then he proceeds to do just that.
That aside, Lombardi then moved on to the inevitable follow-up question. What do the Bears do next? It’s obvious that moving on from Trubisky is becoming a more and more prevalent topic. Especially with the trade deadline almost at hand. This is too talented of a team to sacrifice the entire year without trying something. Lombardi has the answer.
“Teams cannot solve a problem if they don’t admit they have one, and Pace needs to stop lying to himself and others about his evaluation of Trubisky. The time has come. Pick up the phone, call Jacksonville and see what it might take to bring Nick Foles to Chicago. Foles is currently on injured reserve with a broken collarbone, but rookie Gardner Minshew has played well in his absence, and the Jags might be willing to part with Foles if they can add more assets to their team.”
Nick Foles trade is a logistical nightmare for Chicago Bears
This is probably the move that makes the most sense purely from a need and fit standpoint. Foles is well-versed in the Andy Reid-style of offense. He played in various versions of it from 2016 through 2018 with the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles. He won a Super Bowl in it as a backup in 2017 and won MVP honors in that game. So it’s clear he can execute the system at a high level. His familiarity with Matt Nagy is also a plus.
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There’s just one problem: money.
The Jaguars handed Foles a four-year $88 million contract this past offseason. If they were to consider trading him, they would take an immediate $13 million salary cap hit, leaving them over $2.5 million over the current cap. That means they’d have to create enough room elsewhere to simply get back under the cap. Never mind the $25 million in dead money they’d be saddled with.
The Bears would be able to absorb his current $12 million cap hit since they are over $18 million in space. That’s the good news. The bad news is that hit jumps to $22 million in 2020. Currently, the Bears are projected to be $4.8 million over the cap to start that year. This means they’d have to do some serious house cleaning in order to find enough wiggle room to conduct business. Kyle Long? Prince Amukamara? Mike Davis? Adam Shaheen? They’re almost guaranteed goners since it would bring the team $20.37 million in cap space.
Taylor Gabriel ($4.5 million) and even Leonard Floyd ($13.22 million) might also have to be considered.
As to what it may cost to get Foles in a trade? Jacksonville isn’t dumb. They know they have a solid veteran quarterback despite his contract. Odds are they would demand a high price for his services. Likely one of the Bears’ 2nd round picks in 2020. Maybe more. It depends on how much they really believe in Minshew as their long-term solution.
