Dumped by Rams, Foles might find a home with 49ers
Goodbye, L.A. And hello, San Francisco?
Before Nick Foles could take a single training-camp snap on the West Coast for the newly relocated Rams, let alone play in a game, the club released him on Wednesday.
The move seemed inevitable for months. First, because he was benched late last year after a putrid debut season for the then St. Louis Rams. But more so because in April, the Rams traded up to select Cal QB superstar Jared Goff No. 1 overall in the draft.
With journeyman Case Keenum as insurance, Foles became expendable. Indeed, California hadn’t seen a duck so lame since Donald’s costume pants went missing at Disneyland.
Rams head coach Jeff Fisher and his GM Les Snead obviously are convinced Goff and Keenum can handle QB duties this season, a crucial one for the hot-seated management duo.
“We have been in contact with Nick and his representation throughout the off-season, and we feel that this is the best decision for all parties involved,” Fisher said in a statement. “We appreciate the contributions that Nick has made to our organization in his time as a Ram and wish him the best of luck in his future endeavours.”
Foles’ time with the Rams was as short as his contributions.
The team acquired him a year ago March, in a QBs-and-picks swap with Philadelphia; the Eagles got Sam Bradford.
Foles had started in the first two seasons of head coach Chip Kelly’s increasingly disastrous three-year run in Philadelphia. The Rams clearly had high hopes that the 2013 Pro Bowler could build on those successes in St. Louis. Not even close. Foles started 11 games last fall for the Rams. Before donning a ball cap during games over the last month, Foles performed abysmally, completing just 56 per cent of his throws for only seven TDs against 10 interceptions, and a woeful 69.0 passer rating. The Rams attack simply could not generate a credible aerial component with Foles at the helm.
Just two seasons earlier, Foles had performed magnificently in the first pro incarnation of Kelly’s hurry-up spread attack, throwing 27 TD passes against only two interceptions.
Now Kelly is the new head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, and at QB he’s stuck with a rapidly unravelling Colin Kaepernick and Blaine Gabbert, the ex-Jacksonville Jaguar and still-uninspiring 2011 first-round bust.
It’d be a surprise if Kelly does not see Foles as an immediate improvement over one of Kaepernick or Gabbert, or both, especially because Foles — who is only 27 — is so much more conversant with Kelly’s system. Extra points: This can’t be a good sign. WR Mike Wallace, who’s attempting to revive his fasteroding career in Baltimore, after post-Pittsburgh flame-out stints in Miami and Minnesota, failed to pass his pre-camp physical, the Ravens tweeted, per ProFootballTalk.com ... Philadelphia placed RB Ryan Mathews on the active/ non-football-injury list with an ankle injury he suffered last week. Philly also released veteran LB Travis Long ... Eagles head coach Doug Pederson said he does not “foresee” the club releasing ex-Buffalo LB Nigel Bradham, arrested for assault on Monday after allegedly punching a hotel worker in the nose last week.