Why are the Kansas City Chiefs holding on to Nick Foles?

KANSAS CITY, MO - NOVEMBER 06: Quarterback Nick Foles
KANSAS CITY, MO - NOVEMBER 06: Quarterback Nick Foles /
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KANSAS CITY, MO – NOVEMBER 06: Quarterback Nick Foles
KANSAS CITY, MO – NOVEMBER 06: Quarterback Nick Foles /

Nick Foles is still around. There are only a couple reasons why Foles would still be on the roster:

  1. John Dorsey wants to keep Foles around through the draft in case the quarterback situation doesn’t shake out in the end. In this instance, the Chiefs might find that every quarterback they loved is long gone or the cost to move up to grab one is too high. Therefore, Dorsey could roll the dice with the same exact depth chart as last year and take a youthful dive into the 2018 draft class.
  2. John Dorsey wants to see if any team would like to take a flyer for a year on a very cheap starting option in Nick Foles. If teams are freaking out at paying an untested Mike Glennon $15 million per year over the course of several years, maybe someone who has a need at quarterback would love to try Team Foles for a mere $7 million and then worry about the long-term deal later if it works out.If you’re a team facing the possibility of having to pay a total unknown a multi-year deal like Tyrod Taylor, Glennon, Brian Hoyer, Jay Cutler and the like, trading for Foles on a back-up priced one-year deal sounds great. He’d be a perfect bridge to a young starter picked up in the draft. In addition, Foles plus a rookie would cost about $10 million total for the 2017 NFL season, a much better price and product than several teams will end up rolling out for their fans.
  3. John Dorsey just hasn’t had time to file the paperwork to release Foles yet.

The Chiefs could conceivably afford to keep Foles if they have zero interest in the free agent market, which is what has already been rumored about the team. But Foles makes much more sense on another roster, not only for his own interest and chance to start but also for the money he would free up.