Philadelphia Eagles talk: What if Nick Foles had joined the Buccaneers?

Do you ever sit around and wonder what would have happened had Nick Foles decided against the Philadelphia Eagles and actually joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers?

You may not know this. Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Nick Foles has known Dirk Koetter for a long time. Once upon a time, Foles was a highly touted high school quarterback from Austin Texas, and Koetter actually recruited Philly’s signal caller to come play ball for him at Arizona State for the Sun Devils.

As young guys sometimes are, Foles was a little indecisive. He actually committed to go play ball for the Sun Devils before changing his mind and deciding to play for the Michigan State Spartans. He’d change his mind again and would transfer to the Arizona Wildcats.

That led him, eventually, to Andy Reid‘s radar, and the Eagles drafted Foles 88th overall in 2012. He’d shine as an Eagles, but former ‘Birds’ head coach Chip Kelly traded Foles, a 2015 fourth-round pick, and a 2016 second-round pick to what was then the St. Louis Rams for Sam Bradford and a 2015 fifth-round pick.

We thank the Good Lord in Heaven that he found his way back home, but at one point it wasn’t a sure thing. On March 13th of 2017, he signed a two-year deal with Philly after contemplating retirement. You all know what happened a season ago, but here’s what’s funny. All of that could have been erased had he taken the offer of another suitor, yes, Dirk Koetter and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

It’s always fun to speculate.

Sometimes we, as sports fans, argue about things that we could never witness and can’t prove. What if Mike Tyson would have fought Muhammad Ali? Could the ’85 Bears stop Tom Brady? Here’s a few more.

Might Foles have beaten out Jameis Winston for the starting job in Tampa? Could Nate Sudfeld have gotten the job done a season ago if there was no Foles? Would Philly have won a Super Bowl or even made it there had Foles been in Tampa? We’ll never know, but here’s the thing. We don’t have to figure those things out.

Everything worked exactly as it should have. Foles is home. Philly’s the defending champs.

Carson Wentz still hasn’t been cleared for contact. That means two things. Foles will start in Week 2. Koetter will be on the opposing sideline. This should be interesting. There will be no theories or what ifs? There will only be a game. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 PM EST.