by Waldo Waldie
Well it’s official (sort of). The Philadelphia Eagles have a deal in place to send Carson Wentz to the Indianapolis Colts, much as many suspected would be his ultimate destination. Make no mistake, as usual, in the weeks to come inside sources will tell the media that the Eagles turned down better offers from other teams. However, the reality is that this is the best they could get for the much maligned former 2nd overall draft pick. When there was information floating around that the Bears had potentially offered a first round pick for Carson we tweeted that it smelled way too much like smoke to drive up the price for the Colts. So what did the Colts do, they sat back and said “bet!” At the end of the day no amount of rumor mongering was going to get the Eagles a first round pick for a QB they seemed desperate to unload. If you follow the narrative, the stars just aligned too much. Let’s take a look at the timeline:
After posting abysmal numbers in 2020, Wentz was eventually benched for 2nd round draft pick Jalen Hurts. At the time of the benching Wentz had thrown the most interceptions in the league, and ranked worst or second worst in sacks, completion percent, quarterback rating, and total turnovers. Whatever magic Wentz had in 2017 was nowhere to be found. Then he becomes a healthy scratch in Week 17 as the team protects the tradable asset. They then immediately start driving this narrative that the incoming coach will need to be committed to Wentz and the whole thing just felt like a shitty salesman job by a franchise clearly ready to move on. The Eagles were clinging to the success Wentz had in 2017 that helped them to a Super Bowl win. That season, Wentz had the number one total QBR in the NFL, the highest TD rate, he was 4th in YPA and 8th in interception rate, but an injury ended his season and gave the reigns to Nick Foles. You know the rest of the story. Philadelphia really was looking for the greater fool, who saw value in what Wentz did previoulsy… enter the man that was his Offensive Coordinator during that magical run to the Lombardi.
The retirement of Philip Rivers definitely added to the value Wentz might have, especially with his former OC now the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts. It was always the most likely destination. Reich knows exactly what the floor, the ceiling, and everything in between is for Wentz. They also knew that they weren’t going to over pay. So agents and team front offices did what they do best, float rumors and garbage on the internet and media circuits for a month to try and drive up the price as best as possible. At the end of the day though, the Eagles got exactly what the market was for Wentz, a 2021 3rd round pick and a conditional 2022 second, which could become as high as a first round pick (SPOILER: Very very unlikely). It’s a good deal for both teams. Eagles got out of a bad situation and added draft capital, they get to hit the reset button and attempt to build around Hurts. The Colts who have an incredible defense and a great run game get to plug and play a familiar vet into Frank Reich’s system. It’s the best situation Wentz could have hoped for, the opportunity to be a day one starter on a team that can compete.
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