Carson Wentz has never played for Andy Reid, yet there were many familiarities in the Kansas City Chiefs organization that led him to sign there. The biggest one was Nick Foles, Wentz’s former teammate with the Philadelphia Eagles who revived his career in Kansas City.
Foles spent a year with the Chiefs before signing to be Wentz’s backup with the Eagles in 2017. When Wentz went down in December of that season, Foles steeped in and led the Eagles to their first Super Bowl title. Along the way, Foles raved about his time with Reid in Kansas City.
“When I played with Nick (Foles), I remember all the good things he had to say about his time here,” Wentz said Thursday, via a Chiefs transcript. “He absolutely loved it, he loved working with those guys, those things he said to me back then definitely still rang true in my head as I was making this decision so to speak.”
Wentz and Foles formed a strong quarterback room in their two years together in Philadelphia under Doug Pederson, who was the former offensive coordinator in Kansas City. Pederson was a quarterbacks coach under Reid in Philadelphia before joining him on his initial staff in Kansas City. Reid drafted Foles in his final year with the Eagles in 2012 and revived his career with the Chiefs as the No. 2 quarterback to Alex Smith.
Foles had one of the all-time great postseason performances with the Eagles in 2017, completing 72.6% of his passes for 971 yards, 6 touchdowns, 1 interception and a 115.7 passer rating to lead Philadelphia to a Super Bowl title. In Super Bowl LII, Foles took home MVP honors after going 28 of 43 for 373 yards, 3 touchdowns and a 106.1 passer rating. (He also caught a touchdown pass on the “Philly Special.”) He’s the only quarterback to throw and catch a touchdown pass in the postseason.
Foles doesn’t get to that point without his year in Kansas City. That led Wentz to trust the Chiefs can do the same for him.
“I just remember all the positive things he said about the organization, the coaches, those names you just mentioned (head coach Andy Reid and offensive coordinator Matt Nagy),” Wentz said. “Those things were definitely a factor and gave me a little more peace and comfort in knowing what I was getting into.”
