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Philadelphia Eagles Will Decide Nick Foles’ Fate Sooner Than Later

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The quarterback situation for the Philadelphia Eagles continues to rage on, while the questions about incumbent starter Nick Foles rage even harder. As much of a headache as this situation might be for Eagles fans, the good news is that the answer is probably coming sooner rather than later. There are three main reasons why, and here they are:

1.  Financial Commitment and Draft Plans

If they wanted to, it’s too easy for the Eagles to move on from Foles. Firstly, it’s the fact that they’re not financially tied up in any QB on the roster. There’s no mega-contract hanging over the Eagles’ head to deal with. They can handpick whatever QB they want without worry about dead money cap hits or a trade partner taking on a heavy contract.

Without that consequence, draft plans are going to center around who the Eagles decide to target as their 2015 starter. If that player winds up being Marcus Mariota, the Eagles need to start planning on how much to give up in trade and what their plan for the rest of the roster will be. That would be a long and complicated process the Eagles would need to start figuring out soon.

2.  Foles Has Some Leverage

Foles has some power over where he goes right now. He can just refuse to sign an extension with anyone and enter free agency next year. It’s the Asante Samuel situation all over again. In which case, the Eagles are screwed because they’ll lose Foles and get nothing in a trade for him. And the Eagles have to move him before the draft, or even sooner than that because they have to dangle Foles to the right team before they get their heart set on a draft pick or free agent. After the draft, teams will have their QB situations settled and Foles will definitely have all the power. So there’s plenty of urgency for the Eagles to move quick, otherwise they risk getting any value back.

3.  Cap Space Can Be Well Spent Elsewhere, and Now

It’s extra tempting for the Eagles to not lock up a ton of money in a QB right now because they have Jeremy Maclin and Cedric Thornton to re-sign, extensions for players like Mychal Kendricks, Fletcher Cox, Brandon Graham and Brandon Boykin I’m sure they’d like to lock up, free agency and etc.

Would Foles sign an extension financially set up like Andy Dalton and Colin Kaepernick? Nope. If Foles were to do that, he’s basically giving up whatever power he has over where he plays next. Also, that kind of year-to-year contract locks Foles into this limbo he’s in right now. Why would he want to deal with the yearly job uncertainty when he could go to another team and be the guy there? No, if the Eagles want Foles, they’re going to have to commit to him both in word and in dollars.

Plus, let’s say the Eagles let Foles ride out the last year of his contract as a starter, and Foles lights it up. In that scenario, Foles would just about require the franchise tag, which would be a big uptick in pay. Signing a team-friendly extension beforehand could cost Foles millions. Without a contract, he’d basically be rolling the dice on himself like Maclin did this past season. If it pays off, Foles makes his money here or elsewhere.

All that said, the longer Foles stays on this roster, the more likely he is to stick around next year. The answer is coming soon. Now the only thing left to see is if they like whatever that answer is.

Doug Green is a blogger for www.RantSports.com covering the Philadelphia Eagles and the NFL.  Follow him on Twitter @DGreenNFL

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