The Eagles made a series of mistakes with Carson Wentz. They ultimately avoided another mistake by cutting their losses when they could.
Wentz wanted out, and the Eagles didn’t want to force him to stay. So they found a way to unload a bad contract that pays out more than $40 million guaranteed over the next two years. Unlike other teams that have had to dump bad quarterback contracts, the Eagles picked up draft assets.
A third-round pick in 2021 and a second-rounder in 2022 that can become a first-rounder is hardly a Herschel Walker package. But it’s far better than giving up a second-round pick to unload Brock Osweiler (like the Texans did in 2017) or a first-round pick to dump Jared Goff (like some think the Rams will do, as a practical matter, in 2021).
The Colts always were the only team that made sense. They need a quarterback, badly. They have a head coach who knows Wentz well. If anyone can get Wentz back to who he was in 2017, it’s Frank Reich.
The Eagles could have gotten more if even one more team had real interest in Wentz. But no one did, in large part because Wentz likely was locked onto the notion of a reunion with Reich.
So now the Eagles can turn the page on trading up to draft Wentz and picking Wentz over Nick Foles and paying Wentz, moving on with a new coach and a new quarterback. The question becomes whether they’ll add another quarterback with Jalen Hurts, whether through the draft or otherwise. Maybe Nick Foles will still return for a third stint with the team.
Regardless, the Eagles found a way to turn a negative into a positive. Where it goes from here remains to be seen. On one hand, the Eagles have every reason to root for the Colts to do well, since that could upgrade the 2022 pick to a first-rounder. On the other hand, the Eagles have every reason to root for Wentz to show that last year’s regression wasn’t an aberration.
