Written by Vinnie Iyer at SportingNews.com
Just when you thought the Eagles had moved on from trying to fix everything Chip Kelly broke, they had to throw one more offensive move in his face for good measure.
Philadelphia on Monday signed its former starting quarterback, Nick Foles — who had been released by former coach Andy Reid’s Chiefs last week — to be its top backup behind franchise QB Carson Wentz. That shoots down the status of short-lived No. 2 Chase Daniel, who signed a three-year, $21 million free-agent deal last March.
It’s no doubt it happened because Foles, with a reported $11 million over two years, is cheaper insurance of the same quality. But it also was a way to remind everyone of the mess Kelly made.
Foles once was Kelly’s QB of choice with a Pro Bowl-worthy, near turnover-free ’13 season. Then came the unpopular move of cutting game-breaking wideout DeSean Jackson, and Foles’ hard fall in ’14. That prompted Kelly to be fickle with Foles, and trade him for preferred but pricier Sam Bradford in ’15.
Bradford wasn’t better in the new system, and Foles was further damaged with no shot to succeed with the Rams’ shaky supporting cast. Kelly piled on the Jackson decision by also not wanting to re-sign Jeremy Maclin in ’15, leaving Philadelphia with one of the league’s worst wideout corps.
Last year, Howie Roseman, back in the GM role, quickly erased the fired Kelly’s two defensive personnel mistakes, by shipping out both Kiko Alonso and Byron Maxwell in a trade with the Dolphins. Then they went out and got aggressive in the draft Wentz, a more Reid-like QB for Doug Pederson. By the end of the offseason, the Vikings’ misfortune with Teddy Bridgewater allowed the Eagles to also flip the Bradford flop.
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