Here's a scenario, follow me here.
Did you know that Andy Reid was the Eagles head coach in 2012 when Nick came out? And Doug Pederson was our QB coach? Bet you did.
Did you know Doug Pederson was sent to Tucson Arizona to hold Nick to a private workout during the buildup to the draft? Maybe you did, maybe you didn't.
Did you know 31 other teams sent no one to watch Nick work out privately? Every other team waited until the pro day. Only one man met his parents before the draft. Nick talks about this a lot. One single NFL employee had dinner with him in the NFL draft buildup. I'm sure a lot of scouts at his pro day fed him, "Hey guy! If you're still there in the 5th, we'd love to bring you in as our 3rd string QB!" But if you remember Michael Vick's not-so-good 2011, you'll also remember that Andy Reid is a QB guru. And one thing he's famous for (to a fault) is hand picking successors WAY before the current QB is done. Kolb, Vick, Mahomes, Foles.
Now Andy wanted Russell, and took Foles because Seattle grabbed him first, that's known. But to Nick, Doug Pederson and Eagles mean more than just 'that team that's woefully underpaying me.' He constantly says he came back to football in 2016 for Andy in KC instead of retiring. That was the only logical destination to him. He came back to Philly because it's his family. So here's the point to all this: What if Howie sits his agent and Nick down and has a brass tacks conversation. "We're going to franchise you now. You could sign it, and we'd basically have to trade you before free agency starts. Anyone willing to swap 7th rounders and that's the team you're forced to commit to. Or... or.... you don't sign it. We keep your rights while staying under the cap through the new year. Depending on how the QB prospects do and the reality teams acknowledge that 2 top QBs can't go to 5 different teams, compensation for us will steadily increase, and the size of the contract you'll end up achieving will build concurrently.
Based on everything you've ever known about Nick Foles, do you see him as a guy who'd say, "Screw you guys, I want money now and you're playing with me!!!!"
I still think they probably already know what is out there for offers even if they don't have a concrete one yet. Like when we traded for the number 2 overall pick. They did it because they KNEW the Rams were taking Goff, even if the Rams claimed they hadn't made up their mind. Remember Alex Smith last year? His trade was rumored to have been finalized before the Super Bowl! People in Eagles-Patriots Super Bowl pregame shows were talking about the Alex Smith blockbuster trade. Howie has had extensive conversations with every team that could possibly need a QB, that's his job. So if we see the franchise tag, we already know he's got something set up. But the previous scenario I mentioned is a hypothetical worst case, which I'm positive it'd never come to.