The St. Louis Rams punted on oft-injured former No. 1 overall pick Sam Bradford in favor of Nick Foles at quarterback this offseason. Foles may have come back down to earth last season -- 13:10 TD-to-INT ratio -- after a stellar (and unsustainable) 2013, but he's still a solid pocket passer who can move the chains.
Despite not playing a single snap for the Rams yet, St. Louis is interested in getting a contract extension done with their new signal-caller sooner rather than later. This makes sense as signing Foles now could knock a few dollars off the asking price. Plus, having a starting-caliber QB under contract is better than the alternative (cut to all Buffalo Bills fans nodding their heads in agreement).
But how much will a contract extension for Foles cost the Rams?
"The guess here is that something like a four-year deal worth an average of somewhere between $12 million and $14 million per season with about $20 million in 'true' guarantees paid out in the first year or two would make sense for both sides," ESPN Rams reporter Nick Wagoner wrote. "It would lock Foles in while offering him another bit at the apple in a few years and allow the Rams flexibility moving forward to sign their many other players scheduled to hit the open market."
Wagoner looked at Andy Dalton's contract with the Cincinnati Bengals and Alex Smith's deal with the Kansas City Chiefs as comparable starting points. The structure of both deals offers solid financial compensation for the QBs, but also provides several easy exit points for the teams should they decide to move on. These types of deals have come to be known as "pay-as-you-go" contracts (Colin Kaepernick has one with the San Francisco 49ers) with the quarterbacks essentially playing on a succession of one year deals after the first few seasons. A similar structure could be utilized for a Foles extension.
Whether or not Foles can live up to his deal remains to be seen.
