Chicago Bears Rumors: Latest Nick Foles trade talk is appalling, unacceptable

By Tuesday afternoon, the Chicago Bears will have to get their roster down to the official 53-man threshold.

One player who probably shouldn’t be on that final roster is third string quarterback Nick Foles. The Bears are set with Andy Dalton and rookie Justin Fields, and most teams don’t keep three quarterbacks on the roster these days.

Unfortunately, general manager Ryan Pace stuck himself with Foles’ contract and now might have to either eat the money or keep three quarterbacks if he can’t find a trade partner.

The thing is, though, that there should be a few sensible trade destinations for Foles. The new wrinkle with trading Foles, however, is the fact that the Bears might be the ones who say ‘no.’

A new rumor suggests the Chicago Bears would hang onto Nick Foles if they felt it was the right thing to do.

Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer reported on Monday morning that the Bears are listening to trade offers for Foles. But, they would not trade the quarterback if he didn’t want to leave.

Let’s get this straight, shall we?

Ryan Pace made a costly mistake when he traded a fourth-round pick for Foles last offseason. He then signed Dalton to a $10 million contract this year and proceeded to draft Justin Fields. Between Dalton and Foles, the Bears could end up paying their backup and third string quarterbacks roughly $17 million this year when the rookie takes over.

Just because Foles might not want to be traded to a certain team, Pace would keep him on the roster instead of another player that could potentially help a weaker position group?

That is absolutely unacceptable as a general manager. Pace cannot and should not allow the opinion of his third string quarterback to dictate his decision on trading Foles, especially if the Bears can get something in return.

Even if it is a seventh-round pick, the Bears still receive something after giving up a fourth rounder last year. Pace has a responsibility to do what’s best for the Bears, not what’s best for his third string quarterback.

If it ever comes out that Pace rejected a trade offer for Foles simply because he believed the quarterback didn’t want to be dealt, it would all but cement the fact that his job should be axed at the end of this season.

Absurd, ridiculous and appalling decisions are nothing new for Pace and Matt Nagy. This would go down as just one more in the long line of questionable moves (or lack thereof) between this duo. The Bears must trade Foles if they can, period.

There are a couple of teams that make the most sense right now, and one whom the quarterback is familiar with — Frank Reich and the Indianapolis Colts. With Sam Ehlinger getting hurt and Carson Wentz just returning from injury, Indianapolis is one team who could end up carrying three quarterbacks and make it a sensible decision.

The Dallas Cowboys are another team that makes sense, with Dak Prescott coming back from a serious injury and his backups not giving any remote confidence to Cowboys fans this preseason.

Chicago has options in terms of trade partners, it is just now up to Pace to get something done — unless he doesn’t have the guts to do so.