St. Louis Rams quarterback Nick Foles hasn't yet to even toss a regular season pass for the team, but that apparently won't stop the Rams brass from trying to lock Foles up with a new long-term contract.
Rams GM Les Snead and head coach Jeff Fisher have seen enough already to know that they want Foles as their signal-caller for the foreseeable future as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com is reporting that the two sides have held preliminary talks on an extension for Foles and that getting it done soon is a top "priority" for the NFL's St. Louis-based franchise.
"One priority for Rams: Lock up QB Nick Foles to a long-term deal. They've had initial talks, those'll ramp up leading up to the season. The target for Rams to sign QB Nick Foles to a long-term deal is prior to the season. They'll continue to talk. He'll make $1.5M this year," Rapoport tweeted late Monday.
Foles, 26, was acquired by Snead and Fisher along with a second-round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft in exchange for former first-overall selection and oft-injured talent, quarterback Sam Bradford.
After the deal was consummated, Fisher indicated that while the Rams had other offers on the table for Bradford, they chose to do the deal with Philly because he had targeted Foles as the franchise's quarterback of the future.
"There were some discussions, yes, but from our standpoint, the first-round pick - obviously it's attractive, but you still don't have a quarterback. It's a late pick and then would we move up and get into position to draft one? It didn't make sense to us," Fisher said at the time.
Foles has a 15-9 career record to this point. He set NFL records during a magical 2013 season that saw him throw 27 touchdowns and just two interceptions, including a seven-touchdown performance against the Oakland Raiders. He fell to earth somewhat last year, tossing just 13 touchdowns, 10 interceptions and fumbling three times in eight starts.
A third-round pick of the 2012 NFL Draft, Foles is currently still operating under his rookie contract, which pays him $1.542 in 2015, the final year of the deal.
He has dealt with some injury issues to this point, something fans in St. Louis have likely tired of thanks to Bradford. He missed three games during that unexpected 2013 run and lost eight games of the 2014 season with a broken collarbone.
The fact that Fisher and Snead are sure enough to want to pay Foles before even seeing him take a regular season snap is certainly saying something - whether that's a smart play or not, is a whole other discussion.
