Carson Wentz officially joins the Washington Commanders after trade with the Indianapolis Colts

The Carson Wentz era has officially begun for the Washington Commanders. The trade with the Indianapolis Colts is now official, and Wentz comes in as QB1. Washington traded a 3rd round pick this year, a 3rd round pick next year that can go to a 2nd round pick if he plays 70$% of the snaps, and Washington and Indy also swapped places in the 2nd round this year in return for Wentz and the Colts’ 7th round pick. Washington also takes on Wentz’s remaining contract, which includes a $28.3 million cap hit this year, but no guaranteed money for the final two years.

Washington entered this offseason with a laser focus on the QB position, and was prepared to swing big to upgrade over last year’s primary quarterback, Taylor Heinicke. They offered at least three 1st round picks for Seahawks QB Russell Wilson, but he chose the Broncos, and the Seahawks made the deal with Denver for less draft compensation. The following day, Washington made the trade deal for Wentz. There have been some vague reports of other teams having been interested in Wentz, but it seems like Washington upped their bid from an initial offer of a 4th round pick and a 6th round pick to make sure they had their QB before free agency hit, and they had to compete for players who had a choice in where they sign.

Washington has their QB for the 2022 season, and hopefully for the foreseeable future. Wentz comes in with a a lot of questions after having been traded by the Eagles and Colts in consecutive years. He reportedly had major behind-the-scenes issues in Philadelphia during their Super Bowl run, when he was injured and Nick Foles led them to their only Lombardi trophy. Later in his tenure with the Eagles, Jalen Hurts came in and more problems were reported until Wentz was traded to the Colts and a coach he was comfortable with in Frank Reich. The Colts flamed out late in the 2021 season, and owner Jim Irsay had an issue with Wentz, so now he’s onto his 3rd team in 3 years.

Washington sees Carson Wentz as their best option after having been rejected by Matthew Stafford an Russell Wilson in back-to-back years. The Commanders front office just extended Offensive Coordinator Scott Turner’s contract thought the 2024 season, and he will be tasked with building his offense around a QB who was getting MVP votes 5 years ago. Washington’s playoffs hopes will rest on Wentz as they aim to improve from last year’s Heinicke-led team that only produced 7 wins.