Are the Chicago Bears stuck with Nick Foles this season?

The Chicago Bears could find themselves in a tough situation where the quarterback is concerned. The team is likely wanting to move on from Nick Foles by trading him for a few reasons. One, it would save the team roughly $5 million in salary cap space, which the team could use at the moment. Two, the quarterback room is now crowded with three guys that cannot be placed on the practice squad. Three, there is literally no point in keeping him for the future.

Last season, the Chicago Bears sent a fourth-round pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars in return for Nick Foles. Foles had to restructure his contract and the Bears made it heavily incentivized. Nick Foles did not meet any of those incentives though. In fact, he was somewhat of a disappointment.

As someone who was not big on Foles coming to Chicago, I admit that I thought it made sense based on the makeup of the offseason. Bringing in a guy to play in a system he is somewhat familiar with while the league was upended by a pandemic made sense. Some other options were just not available and although the move was an epic failure in hindsight, I can at least understand the thought process behind it.

Now the team has brought in Andy Dalton via free agency. Dalton was definitely higher on my list of guys I wanted the team to pursue last year. The team decided not to be patient though and took a shot on Nick Foles instead. Well, Ryan Pace obviously made a mistake here, but I do think it led to him learning to be slightly more patient — patience that directly led to Justin Fields.

Leading up to the 2021 NFL Draft, rumors were spreading that the Chicago Bears were attempting to trade Nick Foles, however, trade talks all stalled and nothing took place. It’s possible that the Bears were asking for too much or it could also be that Nick Foles was not making things easy.

Are the Chicago Bears stuck with Nick Foles for the 2021 season?

A new rumor popped up recently that the Chicago Bears and the Eagles were close to finalizing a trade that would send Nick Foles back to the team that drafted him. A trade that would allow Foles to go back to the city that still loves him and even has a statue of him thanks to his 2017 Super Bowl MVP performance.

According to Tyler Dunne, Nick Foles refused to go willingly to Philadelphia. Foles does not have a no-trade clause like Russell Wilson does, but apparently, one source said that when the Eagles found out Foles did not want to return to Philly, the team was no longer interested in making a deal happen.

Foles has played for five teams over his nine-year career — six if you count the face he had two separate stints with the Eagles. In fact, he’s played on three different teams in three consecutive years. Maybe he’s tired of uprooting his family and although it does not sound like or seem like something Foles would do, maybe he’s finally had enough. Instead of going willingly, he’s dragging his feet and saying no, I won’t report or play.

The Chicago Bears might be stuck with Foles on the roster now, which will be interesting seeing that the team will now be down one roster spot every Sunday. The Bears will have to carry three quarterbacks on their active roster — not something Matt Nagy will want to do. This could end up becoming an ugly battle, but maybe, just maybe there’s a team or two out there that Foles is willing to say, “yes, I’m okay with playing for this team?” Or, maybe the Bears decide Foles should just stay as a mentor?