So says the Washington Post:
Carson Wentz can come back from his injury at a sensible pace. If he is legitimately ready to play Sept. 6, when the Eagles host the Atlanta Falcons in the NFL’s season-opening game, fantastic. If not, the Eagles have Foles, the reigning Super Bowl MVP, to keep the seat warm for Wentz.
Wentz needn’t feel threatened. The Eagles have made it clear that Wentz, when healthy, is their quarterback. They traded up to take him second overall in the 2016 NFL draft. They made him their starter as a rookie, and Wentz rewarded them by becoming one of the league’s best players last season.
Yes, it was Foles who guided the Eagles through last season’s playoffs. It was Foles who carried out “Philly Special” in the Super Bowl. And it was Foles who was standing under the confetti on that February night in Minneapolis, reveling in the Eagles’ triumph over the New England Patriots and the spotlight as a Super Bowl-winning QB.
The Eagles could have cashed in on Foles’s success and traded him during the offseason to take advantage of his suddenly increased value. It was an offseason in which veteran quarterbacks scurried from team to team and a highly regarded quarterback class was available in the NFL draft, giving quarterback-needy teams far more options than they usually have. But only one reigning Super Bowl MVP would have been there for the taking, and the Eagles could have capitalized on that.
They were wise not to do so. Their chief front office roster architect, Howie Roseman, pushed the right buttons in assembling a Super Bowl-winning team, and he did the right thing for the franchise and for Wentz by keeping Foles around. Foles deserves another chance to be an NFL starter somewhere, at some point. He has earned that. But that has been kept on hold by the Eagles proceeding prudently.
“I think they did the right thing,” a front office executive with another NFC team said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to give a frank assessment of another club’s personnel decisions. “You want to be careful with Wentz. Now you know you have another guy who can run your offense and win you some games if you need him. Sometimes the best moves can be the ones you decide not to make.”
