Piece by: Tyler Deakin
Carson Wentz was traded from the Philadelphia Eagles to the Indianapolis Colts in exchange for a 2021 3rd round draft pick & 2022 conditional 2nd round draft pick from the Eagles earlier today. That 2022 conditional 2nd round draft pick becomes a 1st round draft pick if Wentz plays at least 75% of the Colts offensive snaps in 2021. This is an important condition regarding the value of the draft pick compensation, as Wentz has struggled in staying healthy over the past several seasons. I believe this was a franchise altering trade for both sides, based on the compensation & terms of the deal involved. Plenty of developing storylines are created from the fallout of this trade, and I plan to discuss & assess a few of them below.
The Indianapolis Colts are the clear, immediate winners from this trade fallout. They received a young, potential franchise quarterback under contract through 2024 without giving up multiple first round draft picks. Let’s compare this to the Matthew Stafford deal, where the Lions received multiple first round picks & Jared Goff in return, and it’s clear that the Colts got a great deal in these trade negotiations. That being said, the Colts must fix Carson Wentz after his play has regressed over the past couple of seasons. Wentz will be reunited in Indianapolis with head coach Frank Reich, who was his offensive coordinator with the Eagles in 2016 & 2017. Their hope is that with Reich’s familiar offensive scheme & a stronger supporting cast, Wentz will rebound significantly in 2021. This is a huge, calculated gamble by the Colts; however, they clearly believe & trust in their player evaluation processes.
The Philadelphia Eagles are being publicly criticized by players, media, and fans alike over the fallout from this trade. They are on the hook for a $34 million dead cap hit in 2021 as a consequence from trading Wentz, plus they didn’t receive the substantial trade package return that many expected from them. I believe that this trade was more beneficial to the Eagles in the long-term outcome than the short-term outcome. Obviously, the Eagles took a massive cap hit up-front to trade Carson Wentz away; however, they did rid themselves of the remaining duration of his 4-year $128 million contract signed in 2019. They also likely want to give Jalen Hurts, a young quarterback under a rookie contract, an opportunity to be their starting quarterback. It’s clear that the Eagles didn’t receive an offer close to what many expected in trade negotiations for Wentz; however, they were somewhat successful in receiving moderate compensation for Wentz & getting out from under his contract.
This trade shakes up the NFL landscape & creates new offseason storylines to discuss. Jalen Hurts will now become an NFL offseason storyline, because fans aren’t sure what the Eagles plans are at quarterback. Similarly, fans are eagerly awaiting the results from the Carson Wentz experiment in Indianapolis. Will Wentz succeed with a better supporting cast, or will he fall flat on his face once again? Finally, this is another shakeup in the quarterback carousel game we’ve witnessed this offseason. Here’s an amazing statistic regarding the quarterback carousel, there are zero(!) first-round quarterbacks drafted from 2009-2016 who are still with their original teams! That’s an 0 for 22 ratio we’re discussing here, which is simply incredible.
The Indianapolis Colts & the Philadelphia Eagles are under the spotlight following the completion of this trade. Clearly, the two teams had vastly different goals in terms of what they wanted to achieve in their outcomes from this trade. It seems like the Colts made a calculated gamble on a familiar player, one that they hope will pay immediate dividends for them this year. Meanwhile, the Eagles begrudgingly forfeited Wentz to build for the future; they removed themselves from contractual obligations with him, received modest draft pick compensation in return, and opened up a starting QB opportunity for Jalen Hurts. Time will tell which approach was the correct one, and which team will benefit the most from this trade fallout.
As an eagles fan.....PAIN, just PAIN