Tennessee Titans need to keep an eye on Nick Foles situation

Tennessee Titans should now be interested in what happens with Nick Foles.

The Tennessee Titans still have no OC hire news, but the Jacksonville Jaguars did just hire John DeFilippo as their OC.

For a team based entirely around their running game to hire an OC who was fired last year (in his first year as OC) because he wouldn’t run the ball is…interesting…but that isn’t really what I want to talk about.

The big thing I want to talk about is what this means for the Tennessee Titans and to figure that out, you have to start with Nick Foles.

Alright, for those that don’t like to go too deep into theories and “what ifs” go ahead and close this because it isn’t for you. This is me putting puzzle pieces together and figuring out what teams should do based on their own best interest.

Let’s break this down step by step.

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What are the options for Nick Foles.

So the big question is what happens with Foles. According to this ESPN report, there is a mutual opt-in clause in his contract that means if he and the Philadelphia Eagles both decide that they want to work together in 2019 then they will on a $20ish million deal guaranteed.

If the Eagles want to, they can decline this to take the option out of his hands and franchise tag him with the intent to trade him. So ultimately Foles doesn’t have a choice on where he wants to go if Philly goes “strictly business” on him.

What should the Philadelphia Eagles do with him?

It is 100% in the best interest of the Eagles to keep him on their roster. The problem is that with that projected deal, they are $12 million over the cap for 2019 (We will get to that later).

No matter what, they Eagles can’t just let Foles walk without getting something in return. I know that they will get a compensatory pick for him, but that isn’t enough.

Jimmy Garoppolo got traded for a high second round pick just a year ago as a budding potential above average QB. Nick Foles is coming off of being Super Bowl MVP and nearly knocking off the Chicago Bears and the New Orleans Saints in back to back weeks to head to the NFC Championship if not for a drop by Alshon Jeffery.

With that in mind, I think they should be thinking that they can get AT LEAST 37th (which I think is where the Jaguars will pick in the 2nd round). At that is the bottom end, what happens if the L.A. Chargers or Pittsburgh Steelers want to make a move to land him as their next QB?

In the top-40, there is still a good chance that you could land a Pro Bowl/All Pro player. Are you telling me the Eagles are smarter to just accept the 100th pick when they have a chance at that? No way.

Should the Jacksonville Jaguars make that move?

I mean, is there really another option? You have an OC who has won a Super Bowl with Foles before (although to be fair it was as the QB coach) on a team with the worst QB situation in the NFL.

On top of that, this really isn’t a great draft for QBs. Dwayne Haskins should go 6th overall to the New York Giants and that leaves the Jaguars in the position to have to reach for a QB. Why not just take the BPA there and land a QB you know with your 2nd round pick?

It would be the smart move to make even though it is expensive and it is the best way to make the most of their “win now” roster.

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What is the fallout in Philadelphia?

To essentially “buy” this 2nd round pick, some sacrifices are going to have to be made. The players that make the most sense to get cut are:

-DT Timmy Jernigan (injured this year and due a massive pay bump next year) which saves $7 million

-EDGE Michael Bennett (33 y/o pass rusher on a team with Chris Long, Derek Barnett, Daeshon Hall, and Josh Sweat) which saves $7 million

Those two cuts would put the Eagles just below the cap number. So that and some restructures would get them to where the need to be without hurting themselves in places where they are thin.

What is the fallout in Jacksonville?

This one is tough because the Jaguars are already screwed with the cap situation. These make the most sense to me based on their draft history and rumors.

(By the way, for those thinking that cutting Bortles will get them off the hook, nope that move would only create $4 million in space while incurring $16.5 million in dead money.)

-DT Malik Jackson (just making too much money) saves $11 million

-NT Marcell Dareus (again, just a huge contract) saves $10.5 million

-RB Carlos Hyde (bad trade that never helped them, now has no dead money) saves $4 million

Those are the best cuts they could make without giving up guys like Calais Campbell, A.J. Bouye or Brandon Linder.

What does any of this have to do with the Tennessee Titans?

Aside from seeing just how devastating a move like this could be for the Jaguars (losing your interior DL and a high 2nd round pick hoping that you can recreate magic) there is another big reason.

One of the top two needs for the Tennessee Titans is finding a defensive tackle besides Casey who can make plays or have a consistent impact on the game. With this move, there is the potential for three very talented DTs to be cut for cap reasons.

Malik Jackson isn’t talked about a lot, but last year he had a career year with 8 sacks and a Pro Bowl nod. He’s just 28 and maybe he realizes it is time to start thinking about his legacy and a chance at winning a ring instead of the huge payout.

Timmy Jernigan was a trade acquisition and looked good in his first year with Philly. However, with a huge spike in his contract coming soon this is the Eagles last chance to get out without regret.

Jernigan is just 26 years old and still has a lot of good years left. He is one of the best run stopping DTs in the NFL when healthy. On top of that, he averaged 5 sacks per year with Dean Pees in his three year with Baltimore. As someone familiar with the system he makes a ton of sense as a plug and play player next to Casey.

Marcell Dareus is the oldest name on this list at 29, but he has had the best and most consistent career of the three. I have been pushing for the Titans to trade for Dareus for years and this would give them the chance to land him without giving up a pick.

So what is a quick summary for those who didn’t read all 1,100 of those words super closely?

The fallout from a potential Nick Foles trade to Jacksonville could gut the middle of their defensive line and also force the Eagles to sell low on a good player to make room for the move.

In that chaos the Titans could add a strong piece to their DL and remove one of their top two needs in the offseason without giving anything up except for some money.

While the move looks like a good thing for the Jaguars on paper, this move and the fallout could provide a path for the Titans to make Andrew Luck and Deshaun Watson’s careers a lot harder. In fact, it could be the move that sets the Titans up to be AFC South front runners with the right draft.