For Nick Foles, the low-pressure ride as inexpensive backup quarterback who turns into season savior has ended. When the 30-year-old was granted passage to free agency by the Eagles, he became the best veteran option for teams seeking a new starting QB and willing to pay the money required for his services. The Jaguars did just that Monday when they agreed to give Foles a reported four-year deal worth $88 million with $50 million guaranteed.
In effect, Foles is entering Kirk Cousins' world.
Last year at this time, it was Cousins who was the hot ticket in the open market. The Vikings made him the league's highest-paid player at the time with a contract worth $28 million per year on a groundbreaking three-year, fully guaranteed deal. Foles, who was one of the league's biggest bargains in Philadelphia as a playoff QB and Super Bowl 52 MVP in relief of Carson Wentz, did not top the Cousins deal, but he got plenty of guaranteed money.
Foles is used to pressure as a starting QB who has ridden a roller-coaster of ups and downs in his career. But he has never played under a contract that makes him one of the NFL's highest-paid players. That will create a different kind of pressure.
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Again, Foles can just ask Cousins about this dynamic. Cousins already had been a $20 million-plus QB (on the franchise tag) but was not able to earn a long-term deal in Washington. He joined a Minnesota team that the year prior had gone 13-3 with Case Keenum and reached the NFC title game. The Vikings hoped Cousins would take them to the next step in the Super Bowl, but instead, Minnesota in 2018 went 8-7-1 and missed the playoffs.
Of course, Cousins played behind a poor offensive line with a shaky running game. He had to learn a new system, and his offensive coordinator was dismissed with three games left. But Vikings fans still focused their highest level of wrath on the $84 million QB.
Cousins also had an animated sideline discussion with Vikings receiver (and fan favorite) Adam Thielen in the deflating, season-ending home loss to the Bears. That didn't play well with Minnesota fans and media on a day when Cousins passed for only 132 yards against a Bears defense that pulled its starters in the fourth quarter. The Twin Cities media fanned the flames by comparing Cousins to other highly compensated Minnesota sports figures (Andrew Wiggins and Joe Mauer) who were viewed as not playing up to their contracts in recent years.
Then, in February, Cousins further enraged Vikings fans by posting an ill-advised tweet.
In 2010, I was mad at @KingJames for leaving Cleveland...but I’ve been in Miami for a total of 5 min and now I totally understand.
— Kirk Cousins (@KirkCousins8) February 19, 2019
Keep in mind Minnesotans at the time were buried under a record snowfall and had just been through a stretch of wind chills of 30-50 below zero. A typical response was, "Gee Kurt (misspelling his first name), a whole lot of Vikings fans would like to see you stay in Miami."
With two years left on his Vikings deal, Cousins has time to turn things around, and the Vikings will certainly beef up their offensive line to support him. But the pressure on the QB will always be present due to his contract.
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In Jacksonville, at least Foles won't have to worry about upsetting the locals if he tweets about an in-state trip to slightly warmer Miami in the offseason. As a seven-year veteran, he understands that fan vitriol comes with the territory for the starting QB who gets too much credit for wins and too much blame for losses. But he also has to be aware that criticism ramps up as a player's salary climbs.
This was never an issue for Foles in Philadelphia — a place where the fan base is as rough as it gets if a player is perceived as not playing up to his contract — under his relatively low-cost deals. That's about to change.
Foles is entering the world of the high-priced QB who is expected to lead his team to the playoffs and on to the Super Bowl as he did in Philly. Jaguars executive VP of football operations Tom Coughlin will want a quick return on his investment for a team that reached (and nearly won) the AFC title game two years ago.
The big money might make struggles easier for Foles to manage from a financial perspective, but he is too much of a competitor not to feel the pain of a losing season and the fan complaints that would inevitably come as a result.
Cousins can tell Foles that, even with the big paycheck, it's not fun when immediate on-field success does not come for the game's most expensive QBs.
Jeff Diamond is a former president of the Titans and former vice president/general manager of the Vikings. He was selected NFL Executive of the Year in 1998. Diamond is currently a business and sports consultant who also does broadcast and online media work. He makes speaking appearances to corporate/civic groups and college classes on negotiation and sports business/sports management. He is the former chairman and CEO of The Ingram Group. Follow Jeff on Twitter: @jeffdiamondNFL.
