On June 4, 1970, Foote was drafted by the Montreal Expos as the third overall pick in the first round of the 1970 Major League Baseball Draft. He was signed to play in the Expos organization on June 30, 1970. While playing for the Expos' minor league affiliate, the Quebec Carnavals in 1972, Foote was selected as the catcher for the Eastern League All-Star team. He made his major league debut with the Expos on September 14, 1973 at the age of 21. Foote was highly regarded as a rookie by then-Expos manager Gene Mauch, who called him, "The next Johnny Bench". Foote replaced John Boccabella as the Expos catcher in 1974, and seemed to bore out Mauch's prediction for greatness, when he hit for a .262 batting average along with 11 home runs, 60 runs batted in, a .414 slugging percentage and a league-leading 12 sacrifice flies in 125 games. He also led National League catchers with 83 assists. Foote was named to the 1974 Topps All-Star Rookie Team.