The Philadelphia Eagles can exercise an option to retain Nick Foles on a one-year deal for $20 million, and according to Ian Rapoport, they are expected to do so.

According to Rapoport, Foles would then likely exercise his option, which allows him to buy out the Eagles for $2 million. That in turn could potentially result in the Eagles franchise-tagging Foles to keep control of him in order to return something in trade. The alternative is that they then let him go and get a compensatory pick–likely a late third round pick.

The Foles’ option is a different twist, but this is reminiscent of what happened a decade ago when the Patriots franchised Matt Cassel and then traded him to the Chiefs as part of a deal that included a second-round pick. Cassel then signed a new longterm contract as part of the trade.

And therein lies the gambit for the Eagles. Foles looks like he could be the most in-demand quarterback in a class of free agents that could have lots of brand names, but not much to bank on. I would put Foles as the clear first choice over a 34-year-old Joe Flacco, Ryan Tannehill, and Blake Bortles.

Franchising a player puts a negotiating hurdle for a future contract (Foles’ has less incentive to sign a deal if the guaranteed money package isn’t significantly higher than the franchise figure), and could impact the trade value. Teams would obviously rather just sign a guy than have to give up a valuable pick. But it’s likely Foles will get more than 20 million a year and get a deal of at least three years. Kirk Cousins signed a deal averaging $28 million for three years before last season.

The guess here is that if the Eagles do franchise him, the best pick they will get is a mid-second round, but that could still be better than the compensatory pick, which is why they are looking at retaining his rights and forcing the trade.