Should Carson Wentz Be On Washington’s Off-Season Radar?

Just the thought of Washington trading for another Eagles’ Quarterback should send chills down the spines of fans all over the country and abroad.

I will never forget that Easter in 2010 when I was on my way to Pennsylvania to visit family. I remember pulling into my mom’s driveway, and her coming out to greet me. The first words she said were not “hello” or “I missed you” - rather, “did you hear what your team just did?”

Imagine my shock to find out my team just traded a second round pick(and a future mid-rounder) for one of my most hated NFL quarterbacks - and to have this news come from my mother!

Needless to say, this ruined my Easter that year...

We all saw the challenges Eagles’ quarterback Carson Wentz has had to deal with this season. This all started with the birth of he and wife Maddie’s first child in late April; in the middle of a global pandemic. This life-changing event may be something that is very common in the life of athletes - heck, Phillip Rivers and wife Tiffany have done this nine times and haven’t missed a beat; but the birth of a couple’s first child can affect everyone differently. Sleep patterns, off-season training, eating...even being on the road away from home for long periods at a time, can all weigh heavily on a new dad.

On the football field, changes happened as well.

The Eagles were decimated with injuries both before, and during the season. They lost three quarters of their starting offensive line - then lost some of their reserves. Their wide receiving corps became a Where’s Waldo late night puzzle. Their tight ends spent time on injured reserve. To top it all off, their defense ranked in the bottom half of the league in both yards and points allowed.

The results of all this...Carson Wentz’s worst season to date in the NFL.

The 28 year old played in 12 games, had a career worst 57.4% completion percentage, tied a career low in touchdowns with 16, and had a career high 15 interceptions(he had thrown just seven each of the past three seasons). His 2620 yards over 12 games equated to just 218 yards per contest, which was the worst of his five year career, and he was sacked a career high 50 times...let me repeat that - 50 TIMES in just 12 games.

To put a cherry on top, the team used a second round pick on Jalen Hurts in April’s draft, who surplanted him in the starting lineup late in the season.

To say 2020 was a complete disaster for him is a massive understatement!

Now of course - these are all just excuses. No one really knows the true reason for his rapid decline except for the man himself.

All I know is, when healthy and working with the weapons the team has had around him in the past - including what some have said may have been the best offensive line in the NFL between 2016-2019, the man has produced results!

Another thing I realize is that Washington is in desperate need of a franchise quarterback. I have stated in the past, that my desire would be to acquire a young, mobile veteran quarterback to lead this team. As you can imagine, the market for such a player may not be that robust, so Wentz, who would absolutely fit this description, would be on my short list.

But, for as many reasons as there may be to gravitate towards a player like him, there could be just as many to shy away from.

First, there is trade compensation. Although he may have fallen from Doug Pederson’s graces, the team is not just going to give him away(and they can’t afford to cut him). With the massive contract he just signed, the Eagles are on the hook for a portion of that(in the form of the prorated signing bonus), but the team trading for his rights will still have to pony up his annual salary and bonus structure which will be between $20-25M annually. Some have suggested that the trading team would be doing the Eagles a favor by taking him off their hands, but a trade within the division may require a bit of an over-pay, unless other suitors are scared off by the money and/or performance issues. I’m thinking a second round pick would be as high as I would be willing to go(haunting Easter music slowly plays in the background).

Second would be his past injury history. He tore his ACL and LCL in December of 2017, however that is not the concerning one. Rather the back fracture, that he suffered sometime in October of 2018, is the one to keep an eye on. Back injuries can be very tricky to deal with, especially for a quarterback who can be put into some very compromising positions in and out of the pocket, but for the doubters, there is his 2019 season. Just last year, at the age of 27, Wentz played in all 16 games, completing 64% of his passes for a career best 4039 yards with 27 touchdowns versus just seven interceptions. He also chipped in 243 rushing yards and a touchdown.

Finally, people have to wonder just what happened to the former Pro Bowler who was once in the running for league MVP. Did he lose his desire to play the game, or was 2020 just a bad year?

We are one of just a few teams who A.)is in need of a quarterback who we can “win now” with; and B.)have the cap space to afford him.

In this quarterback-driven league, where franchise signal callers can be hard to come by - especially ones who are still in their prime, would Carson Wentz be a safe bet or one we’ll live to regret?

I tend to lean towards the former...

What say you?