Eagles can franchise tag Nick Foles this week, is that the right move?

Will the Philadelphia Eagles be making the right decision if they franchise tag Nick Foles this week?

The Nick Foles saga with the Philadephia Eagles is nearing an end, but at the same time, it is far from over. We found out a couple of weeks ago that the Eagles have every intention of picking up Nick Foles’ option for the 2019 season, which costs $20 million. Now, the obvious speculation is that the Eagles intend on trading Foles, rather than actually retaining him as a backup for quarterback Carson Wentz.

Once Foles officially found out that the Eagles weren’t going to just let him walk, he wasted no time letting the Birds know that he was going to use his $2 million buyout to become a free agent when the market opens up in March. That left the Eagles with yet, another tough decision to make. They will have to let Foles walk, or they can franchise tag him for $25 million, in an attempt to make a trade with another team.

It’s evident that Foles and his representatives believe that the high-priority quarterback will get offered more than 20-to-25 million in the free agency market. Therefore, they want to avoid being dealt by the Eagles. Because if the Eagles do decide hold on to Foles just to trade him, then they won’t have the freedom that they desire to openly meet with teams and agree on a higher price tag.

What should the Eagles do at this point?

By now, it’s pretty obvious that Foles’ camp holds more leverage in the situation than the Eagles. If the Eagles do tag Foles, the situation can get quite complicated. One, the Eagles could find themselves in some trouble if Foles and his camp make a case that the Eagles franchised Foles without any intention of giving him a chance to remain with the team. And two, the Eagles front office could find themselves in a similar situation as last year’s offseason when they over-valued the Super Bowl MVP’s price tag.

At this point, it may be in the Eagles best interest to allow Foles to walk. It’s rumored that Foles’ market price for a trade could be nothing more than a third-round pick for 2019. At that rate, the Eagles could just be patient and wait for a third-round compensatory pick for next year’s draft.

Unless there is an offer that is too good to pass up already on the table, the Eagles shouldn’t get caught up in the drama that could come with tagging Foles and trying to move him. We’ll see what Howie Roseman and the gang plan to do soon, as the Eagles can tag Foles from Tuesday until March 5th. Right now, there are a few teams left that could potentially have interest in Foles. Those teams are the Jacksonville Jaguars, Miami Dolphins, and the New York Giants.