Eagles Reportedly Turned Down A Trade Involving Josh Gordon & Nick Foles Back In 2013

Phil Sheridan of ESPN.com, citing a source familiar with the discussions, reports that the Philadelphia Eagles previously turned down a trade that would have sent Nick Foles to the Browns in return for WR Josh Gordon.

According to Sheridan, the deal was discussed before the start of the 2013 regular season, which fits with previous reports that Cleveland had been fielding offers for him that year.

Sheridan points out that Gordon was facing a two-game suspension for violating the NFL substance abuse policy at that time, and Foles had just lost the starting job to Michael Vick.

Cleveland had Jason Campbell and Brandon Weeden as their top-two quarterbacks on their depth chart, so adding someone like Foles would have been an big upgrade for them that season.

Former Eagles president Joe Banner, who had drafted Foles the year before, was currently in charge of the Browns, and had as good of a read on Foles as anyone.

Sheridan mentions that new Eagles Chip Kelly was still high on Foles as an NFL quarterback and reportedly had concerns about the fact that Gordon was facing a suspension.

In the end, the Eagles passed and got one great year out of Foles followed by an underwhelming 2014 season in which he sustained a fractured collarbone.

Gordon, on the other hand, has been suspended numerous times including a recent ban for testing positive for alcohol, which was a violation of the conditions for his return to the field.

He’s now facing a suspension that could keep him away from the NFL for the entire 2015 season, and there are also questions about whether or not he’ll ever play for the Browns again.

It will be interesting to see what the Eagles do in regards to Foles and their quarterback position, as there has been a decent amount of speculation that they could consider a move up for a quarterback in this year’s draft, even though it would be a very costly move.