If there is one quarterback to tie to the Chicago Bears this offseason, it is Nick Foles.
Ryan Pace left the 2019 NFL season with the feeling that the Chicago Bears would be moving forward with the intentions of Mitch Trubisky starting. However, he also left the door open to fixing the rest of the quarterback room and using those spots to find competition for Trubisky.
Pace noted that Tyler Bray and Chase Daniel are free agents, and would not commit to a fifth-year option for Trubisky quite yet.
With that in mind, the Bears are going to bring in someone. It would make sense to add a free agent and a later draft pick to give a Trubisky a whole new room and added pressure.
While Nick Foles is not a free agent, many expect the Jacksonville Jaguars to shop him this offseason after a bad marriage between the two in 2019. With that in mind, are the Chicago Bears the perfect team to trade for the Super Bowl-winning quarterback? Here are five reasons why it makes too much sense.
5. Coaches
To say that Nick Foles is familiar with the coaching staff would be an understatement. To start, head coach Matt Nagy and Foles have a history. When Foles was drafted in 2012, Nagy was the offensive quality control coach for the Eagles. He picked Foles up from the airport when he was drafted. The two only spent one year in Philadelphia together but were re-united in 2016 when Nagy was the OC of the Kansas City Chiefs.
Foles stepped in as the backup and even started a game that year, throwing three touchdowns to no interceptions.
Nagy and Foles developed a relationship this year, and Foles even borrowed Nagy’s car during training camp of 2016. Nagy said this of Foles:
"Nick is about as good of a human being as you’ll find. You want to talk about people that do things the right way, somebody that cares about others, somebody that just wants to play for the love of the game."
The Bears biggest offseason change in coaching staff was moving on from Mark Helfrich and bringing on Bill Lazor. Lazor came from Cincinnatti, but cut his teeth in the NFL with Chip Kelly and the Eagles. His first NFL job was to be the quarterback coach of Nick Foles. Foles threw 27 touchdowns and two interceptions, helping Lazor get a promotion in Miami.
Last year, Foles said he still keeps in touch with Lazor.
"“I still keep in touch. He pays attention to detail and each and every day works hard,” Foles said. “Any coach that has the attention to detail and wants to give the information to their players is going to be a great coach. Working on fundamentals and he does all that.”"
Lastly, the Bears hired John DeFilippo to be their quarterback’s coach. He is the most familiar with Foles of the group, which says a lot. DeFilippo was the Eagles quarterback coach when Nick Foles stepped in as a backup and won a Super Bowl. DeFilippo also got hired by the Jacksonville Jaguars, which helped them sign Foles in free agency.
The year did not go the way either planned, but just last year, the combination of Foles and “Flip” was supposed to be unleashed. Here is what Flip had to say of Foles last year at this time.
"“It’s great having a player who understands the schemes and understands what you’re trying to do, because he can reinforce the intricacies of what we’re trying to do offensively.”"
It is safe to say that there are at least three men in the room who would vouch for Foles and would have no issue coaching Foles. It is just as clear that Foles would have no issue playing for these men and learning their scheme.