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Well, someone was bound to trade for him. And who made more sense than the Indianapolis Colts? It’s a team with loads of cap space, and a win-now roster that was conspicuously missing a quarterback following the retirement of Phillip Rivers. So, enter Carson Wentz, whose name connotes frowns.
He’s been a shell of the former No. 2 overall pick who was on the Super Bowl-winning Eagles roster as a passenger after tearing his ACL in his second year in the league. The following season, in 2018, Wentz suffered a back injury that again saw him sidelined for the Eagles’ playoff run.
And after both of those injuries, the Eagles exercised his fifth-year option and then decided, hey, let’s give this guy, whose body is failing him, a four-year, $128 million contract with $107 million guaranteed.
Before the 2020 season, they drafted Jalen Hurts in the third round. He rightfully took Wentz’s job, and Wentz was reportedly unhappy about it and wanted to be traded.
Wentz was abysmal last year, with a career-low 57.4 completion percentage, a 16-15 touchdown-to-interception ratio and 72.8 passer rating (with the maximum being 158.3).
That brings us to now, when the Colts traded a 2021 third-round pick and 2022 conditional second-round pick which would become a first-rounder if Wentz plays more than 75 percent of snaps, or 70 percent of plays and the Colts make the playoffs.
If Carson Wentz’s playtime is at or above 75% next season, the conditional 2022 second-round pick would become a first-round pick, per sources. The second-round pick also.could become a first if Wentz plays at least 70 percent of the plays and the Colts go to the playoffs.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 18, 2021
It’s a trade that makes sense for both parties. The Colts desperately needed someone, anyone, to even be competent at quarterback. Is Wentz competent at this stage? It’s hard to say. But it’s a reasonable bet for them with limited other options.
For the Eagles, they take the largest dead cap hit in NFL history at $33 million, but save just a tick under $1 million and acquire a pair of early draft picks. They are in for a brutal offseason, with the second-worst cap situation behind the New Orleans Saints. OverTheCap currently projects them to have roughly -$47 million in cap space. They’ll have to make significant cuts and restructure/extend players to even become compliant.
