Analysis: Signing Nick Foles a momentous day in Jaguars history

The Jacksonville Jaguars confirmed on Wednesday that quarterback Nick Foles is officially a Jaguar.

Foles arrived in Jacksonville around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, soon after the Jaguars announced they released quarterback Blake Bortles.

No matter how you look at it, signing Foles is a momentous day in Jaguars history. It’s a changing of the guard at the most important position in sports. With that said, let’s look take a look at three positives to the signing and perhaps three things that could go wrong.

Let’s start on the plus side:

• Nick Foles is a big gamer. Over the last two seasons, he's won 10 of the 13 games he started and there were some big ones in there, like, the NFC title game, the Super Bowl, and even this year, he had to deliver in the regular season. He did it with three straight wins at the season's end to get the Eagles to the playoffs. Calm, cool and collected Foles comes up big in the sports biggest moments.
• He desperately wanted a team of his own to lead, now he has one. Look, Foles was beloved by his teammates in Philly, some of the players even built mini-shrines in their lockers in homage to him. There's even been some belief that Foles, despite not being as talented as Carson Wentz, should have been the starter going forward.
• The money's not as bad as you think, so everyone should stop freaking out about four years for $88 million. That's less per year than Jimmy Garoppolo, Derek Carr, Kirk Cousins or Matt Stafford. Getting the going rate for a good starting quarterback in the NFL is north of $25 million per year. The Jags got Foles for $3 million less per year… heck, don't make us bring up the Bortles contract.

STORY: Jacksonville Jaguars signing QB Nick Foles, according to reports

OK, now to keep it fair, lets peek at what might not be the best interpretation of the signing of Nick Foles:

• Signing a free agent quarterback rarely works out. From Brock Osweiler to Matt Flynn, don't make me go through them all. There has been some successes but, generally speaking, quarterbacks switch teams because they aren't quite good enough.
• Only way to get a "franchise" quarterback is through the draft. If Kyler Murray and/or Dwayne Haskins excel, the Jags could be kicking themselves over this one. However, it is fair to point out that there's no guarantee either one would be available for the Jags at pick No. 7.
• Foles had a lot of of talent around him in Philly, that's true. It's imperative on the Jags to find help on the offense. To re-build, though, begins with the quarterback; but remember Philly won a Super Bowl with Ertz, Agholor and Alshon Jeffery, plus a very talented offensive line.

The Jaguars organization is of the belief they are closer to the 2017 franchise rather than the 2018 team. Adding Nick Foles is an upgrade at quarterback. Let the games begin!

PHOTOS: Nick Foles set to sign with the Jacksonville Jaguars

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STORY: Eagles agree to let Foles seek starting job in free agency

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