Bill Feig/Associated Press

In today's NFL, no position is more important than quarterback. And when free agency opens in March, no signal-caller will be more coveted than Super Bowl LII MVP Nick Foles.

But while QB-needy teams from New York to Miami daydream about bringing Foles in via a fat free-agent deal or a tag-and-trade with the Philadelphia Eagles, those teams are letting desperation cloud their judgment.

It's just as likely that Foles will be an overpaid boondoggle as it is that he'll be a franchise savior.

Foles, who started seven games in place of an injured Carson Wentz in 2018 (including two in the postseason), inched that much closer to the open market earlier this week. After the Eagles exercised the $20 million option on Foles' contract for 2019, the 30-year-old refunded $2 million to the team and opted out, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.

The Eagles reportedly plan to use their franchise tag on Foles, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter, in an effort to control his destination (sorry, Giants and Redskins) and recoup a draft pick. However, giving Foles the projected $25 million tag is a risky proposition for a franchise whose cap situation is among the worst in the NFL.

One way or another, one thing appears clear—Foles' days in the City of Brotherly Love are numbered. Whether it's a multiyear deal in free agency, that tag and a draft pick or some combination of the two, some team is bound to splurge on him.

The primary motivation for that hefty investment is Foles' performance over the past two seasons.

In 12 regular-season appearances (eight starts) over that span, Foles completed 66.9 percent of his passes for 1,950 yards, 12 touchdowns and six interceptions. The Eagles went 6-2 over his eight starts, making the postseason both years.

David Banks/Associated Press

In three playoff starts for Philly during the 2017 season, Foles averaged almost 325 passing yards per game with six scores and only one pick. It all culminated in Super Bowl LII, where Foles threw for 373 yards and three scores to outduel Tom Brady, win MVP honors and guide the Eagles to their first Super Bowl victory in franchise history.

That wasn't the first time Foles peeled off quite the run in a green uniform.

Back in 2013, Foles was pressed into action when Michael Vick got hurt. He responded by passing for almost 2,900 yards (including a league-high 9.1 yards per attempt) with a jaw-dropping 27-to-2 touchdown-to-interception ratio. The Eagles made the playoffs and Foles was named to the Pro Bowl, where he won MVP honors.

That's the first potential red flag with Foles, though. We've already seen how this movie ends.

Foles made eight more starts for the Eagles in 2014 before a broken collarbone ended his season. His completion percentage went down, his turnovers were up, and his passer rating fell by upward of 40 points, from 119.2 in 2013 to 81.4 in 2014. Regardless, Foles still won six of those eight starts.

The Eagles moved on from Foles the following offseason, flipping him and a pair of picks (a second- and a fourth-rounder) to the St. Louis Rams for fellow quarterback Sam Bradford, a fifth-round pick and a conditional sixth-round pick. The Rams handed Foles a two-year, $24.5 million extension and made him their starting quarterback.

Then the bottom fell out.

Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press

In 11 starts during a miserable season in which Foles was benched repeatedly for Case Keenum (who would go on to achieve boondoggle status in Denver), he passed for 2,052 yards and only seven scores with 10 interceptions. He averaged a meager 186.5 yards per game and fumbled five times. The Rams went 4-7 over those 11 starts, drafted Jared Goff first overall in 2016 and sent Foles packing.

Foles then reunited with Andy Reid in Kansas City and spent one uneventful season as Alex Smith's backup before giving way to another young quarterback named Patrick Mahomes the following year. At that point, Foles re-joined the Eagles, and the rest is history.

Maybe it was the respective coaching staffs or the skill-position talent around him. Maybe Foles just believes that he looks great in green. But whatever the reason, Eagles Foles and Rams Foles looked like two different players. He's 10 games over .500 as an Eagle and two games under .500 everywhere else.

The cold, hard truth? Foles is a decent NFL quarterback, but he isn't as good as that Super Bowl run would suggest. His career touchdown-to-interception ratio is skewed by that fluky season in 2013. He averaged only 1.5 touchdown passes per start even while winning all those regular-season games in Philadelphia over the past two years. His career passer rating (88.5) is lower than Andy Dalton's (88.8).

Mark Tenally/Associated Press

During the 2018 postseason, Foles completed barely more than 60 percent of his passes, threw more interceptions (four) than touchdown passes (three) and had a passer rating of 70.6.

The Eagles didn't beat the Chicago Bears in the Wild Card Round because of Foles. They won in spite of him.

Foles isn't the kind of quarterback who can carry a franchise. Two of the teams which could offer the most talent around him—the Giants and Redskins—are the reason the Eagles are contemplating the tag-and-trade. His two most likely destinations—Jacksonville and Miami—aren't exactly stacked on offense.

There might be a silver lining in this scenario for those teams, though: Philadelphia's reported intent to tag Foles and then flip him.

A third-round pick—the reported compensation the Eagles seek for Foles, per Schefter—is a fairly steep price to pay. But if Foles plays 2019 under that $25 million tag, it's only a one-year commitment instead of a multiyear deal that could submarine a team if he doesn't bring his Philly magic along to his new city.

Consider it an admittedly expensive insurance policy.

What Foles did in 2017 can't be taken away from him. He outplayed Tom Brady in a Super Bowl. Few players can say that.

Frank Franklin II/Associated Press

But it's equally likely (if not more so) that Foles is Joe Flacco all over again—an average quarterback set to be drastically overpaid because of one run to a ring.

Make no mistake: He's going to get a big payday. Too many teams are desperate for a quarterback. The only question is where and for how long.

Well, there is one more question—a question Foles' new team may well be asking itself a year from now. It's the same question the Rams asked themselves after the 2015 season.

What the heck were we thinking?