Taking a Look at the Carson Wentz Trade

Last Thursday, the Philadelphia Eagles traded quarterback Carson Wentz to the Indianapolis Colts for a third-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft and a conditional 2022 second-round pick that could potentially become a first-round pick depending on playing time for Wentz in 2021. That second-round pick will turn into a first-round pick in 2022 if one of two things happens; Carson Wentz plays 75% of offensive snaps or if he plays 70% of offensive snaps and the Colts make the playoffs. There has been a lot of debate as to who actually won this trade. Let us take a look at the trade from both sides.

Indianapolis Colts:

For the Indianapolis Colts, they acquire a franchise quarterback that can replace Phillip Rivers from 2020 after the veteran quarterback retired this offseason. While Rivers mentally was still good, his arm strength had noticeably declined over the years.

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Wentz has the arm strength to make any throw necessary in this Colts offense. He is also teaming up again with his old offensive coordinator in Frank Reich. In 2017, Wentz had the best season of his career as he threw 33 touchdown passes to just 7 interceptions under the tutelage of Reich in Philly, being in the MVP consideration for most of the season. Wentz also led the Eagles to an 11-2 record, as they managed to clinch home-field advantage throughout the playoffs and win the Super Bowl despite Wentz tearing his ACL. 

In Indy, Wentz will have one of the best offensive lines in the league blocking for him. The Colts were ranked as the 7th best offensive line in the league this past season, per Pro Football Focus. The Colts ran for just under 125 yards per game and Phillip Rivers was sacked just 19 times. Rivers stayed pretty clean the entire season as he was also only hit 32 times, which was also one of the best marks in the league.

All those numbers would have been better had Anthony Castonzo and Braden Smith not missed time during the season. Having Wentz at quarterback will open the offense, especially the deep ball.

For most of the season, Rivers was near the bottom of the league in deep ball attempts. As with age, Rivers’ arm strength naturally declined, so he was not able to push the ball down the field as consistently as he once did. Wentz ranked top 10 in pass accuracy in the 2018 and 2019 seasons before eventually taking a dive this past season in Philly.

Another huge knock on the Eagles the past few seasons has been the inability to surround Wentz with consistent weapons. For all of his time in the league, Wentz has never had a 1,000-yard rusher on his team and that will most certainly change now that he has Jonathan Taylor and Nyheim Hines in the backfield with him.

If Reich can get the best out of Wentz just as he did in 2017, the Colts will be serious contenders to win the AFC South next season. They proved last season that they don’t particularly need a superstar at quarterback to be able to compete.

Philadelphia Eagles:

For the Eagles, this trade causes them to take on the biggest dead cap hit in NFL history (Which surpasses Jared Goff) at 33.82 million dollars. The willingness to take that big of a cap hit just goes to show how much the Eagles wanted to get Wentz out of Philadelphia. He was playing so poorly this past season that he was eventually benched for second-round rookie Jalen Hurts.

Wentz finished the year tied with Drew Lock for most interceptions in the league, even though he played just 12 games. He consistently held onto the ball too long, contributing to the fact that he was sacked 50 times. Again, in just 12 games.

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Now the Eagles must move forward with Jalen Hurts as the starter under center. In the four games that he started, he was not great. He threw 6 touchdowns to 4 interceptions and completed just 52% of his pass attempts. He did show potential, but the Eagles currently lack the weapons to help him develop into a great quarterback.

They have the 6th overall pick in this upcoming draft, but there has been talk that the Eagles could consider taking a quarterback with that pick. If those reports are true, that will be a huge mistake for the franchise. The Eagles need to draft skill players and improve the offensive line to truly improve this offense, so wasting it on another quarterback to compete with Hurts after just investing a high pick in Hurts a year prior would be one of the worst decisions they could make. 

The Eagles have a legit shot to win the NFC East next year if they build around Hurts. The division was far and away the worst in the league last year and there is not much hope going forward that either team will truly take a huge leap, especially with the Dallas Cowboys’ quarterback situation up in the air.

The Eagles could be playing playoff football next season if they don’t muddy the waters.