The Baltimore Ravens have traded Super Bowl XLVII champ and MVP, Joe Flacco, to the Denver Broncos for a fourth-round pick, according to reports. The trade cannot officially be processed until the new league year begins March 13.
Source: The Broncos have agreed to send their 2019 fourth-round pick to Baltimore for QB Joe Flacco. Good price for a QB on an affordable contract with a great playoff resume.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) February 13, 2019
Flacco is 34-years-old and has just a handful of NFL seasons left, at most, but a fourth-round for a former Super Bowl MVP seems light. And that can't be too pleasing for the Eagles and their fan base, hoping to get maximum value for Nick Foles.
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Eagles just cursed. Sets trade market price. #Foles https://t.co/t8069g1YGU
— Andrew Brandt (@AndrewBrandt) February 13, 2019Now, Foles is four years younger than Flacco, arguably playing better football than him, and not under contract. Flacco's contract, which has no more guaranteed money on it, carries cap hits of $18.5 million for 2019, $20.25 million for 2020 and $24.25 million for 2021. With the emergence of Lamar Jackson, Baltimore was probably going to cut Flacco loose one way or the other, anyway.
However, there's just no denying Foles' market is not as strong as Philadelphia would have hoped. The Eagles can franchise tag Foles beginning on February 19th, but that would lock Foles into a $25 million price tag, and might make it too difficult to trade him. Also, if the Eagles do not franchise tag Foles and let him become an unrestricted free-agent, the Eagles would receive a 2020 compensatory draft pick.
There has been plenty of conversation surrounding whether or not the Eagles are even allowed to tag, and then trade, Foles. According to the CBA, "A Club extending a Required Tender must, for so long as that Tender is extended, have a good faith intention to employ the player receiving the Tender at the Tender compensation level during the upcoming season."
It would certainly be hard to prove the Eagles broke the CBA, even if they did trade Foles. If the Eagles do apply the tag, they can listen to offers and run them by Foles before he actually signs the tag, in hopes of finding the right trade for all parties. A third-round pick in 2019, which the Eagles currently do not have, would seemingly be a fair price.
Teams like the Giants and Jaguars are still possibilities for Foles.
