Colts Emerging as a Frontrunner for Carson Wentz?
PHILADELPHIA - Perhaps the Eagles are trying to drum up interest in Carson Wentz or the disgruntled quarterback's representation is attempting to prop up a depressed market.
In the end, the flashpoint of any potential trade for the former No. 2 overall pick will fade into the background, however, especially if the smoke is fanned into flames.
The thought of Wentz returning to Philadelphia under a new head coach to start a reclamation project after a disastrous 2020 season seems to grow slimmer by the day.
The Eagles have been quietly shopping Wentz for a while now, a source tells SI.com's EagleMaven, and the most likely landing spot on paper may indeed be turning into the frontrunner, according to the NFL Network's Mike Garafolo.
Appearing on SportsRadio 94WIP Friday morning, Garafolo said that the Eagles have discussed a Wentz trade to the Indianapolis Colts, which would reunite the embattled Eagles quarterback with both Frank Reich and Press Taylor, not to mention Mike Groh.
Reich was Wentz's first NFL offensive coordinator and a coach the soon-to-be sixth-year veteran trusts. Taylor, meanwhile, was Wentz's QB coach with the Eagles after John DeFilippo and is also a personal friend. Groh, meanwhile, succeeded Reich with the Eagles at OC and while that relationship was strained at times, Wentz now likely understands he was also successful under Groh's leadership as well.
“I do know that the Eagles have had conversations with the Indianapolis Colts already," explained Garafolo.
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Garafolo also noted that well-regarded Indy general manager Chris Ballard is hesitant to give up draft capital. What fits is that the Colts do need a starting quarterback after Philip Rivers' retirement. The Colts' backup and 2019 starter, Jacoby Brissett, is also an unrestricted free agent.
"Here is the thing about the Colts, and this is why they were never strongly in the running for Matthew Stafford - these guys are really good at what they do draft-wise," Garafolo said. "They believe in themselves. So every pick that they deal away they think to themselves ‘I just dumped away a good player’, whereas some GMs might say ‘Eh, you know what, I may have missed on that pick anyway.’ These guys believe they are going to hit on every single one.
"So what they do is, they are a little slow playing when it comes to these draft picks and trades.”
Other teams mentioned as possible suitors by Garafolo for Wentz were New England, New Orleans, and Carolina, the latter of which went heavily after Stafford before the Los Angeles Rams acquired the long-time Lions starter.
There are a host of issues complicating matters for a potential Wentz trade, starting with his historic on-field regression in 2020 and his contract, which would require the Eagles to take a $33.8 million dead-money hit. The team acquiring Wentz would also have to pick up his four-year extension at essentially $25M per season, although a new team could also quickly work out a more favorable deal to make something happen.
From Philadelphia's perspective, however, that $33.8M in sunk revenue does not change under any circumstance.
The real reclamation project here seems to be convincing others that Wentz can return to form as an upper-level starting QB in the NFL, something that would increase the package coming back to Philadelphia in any trade proposal.
John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John every Tuesday and Thursday on "The Middle" with Eytan Shander, Harry Mayes and Barrett Brooks on SportsMap Radio and PhillyVoice.com. He’s also the host of Extending the Play on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
Ed Kracz is the publisher of EagleMaven. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
