The quarterback market is heating up, with teams giving up draft picks for passers in the last two days. After the Broncos landed Russell Wilson from Seattle, the Washington Commanders – despite multiple red flags – struck a deal for Indianapolis Colts QB Carson Wentz.
ESPN’ Adam Schefter is reporting the terms of the trade and clearly, the Colts wanted to get rid of their quarterback. Yet, Washington was willing to part with third-round picks in 2022 and 2023, and will move down five spots in the second round, too.
Trade terms, per sources…
Colts get:
🏈2022 third-round pick
🏈2023 third-round pick that can become a second if Carson Wentz plays 70 percent of plays.
🏈2022 second-round pickCommanders get:
🏈QB Carson Wentz
🏈2022 second-round pick.— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 9, 2022
It was certainly public knowledge that former Eagles offensive coordinator and current Colts head coach Frank Reich loved Wentz, resulting in Wentz being traded from Philadelphia to Indianapolis last offseason.
Red flag alert!
After only one season with Wentz in Indy, there was Reich – just one week ago – refusing to say he was committed to Wentz for any future seasons. Reich was indirectly informing his fellow NFL competitors that he was making Wentz available.
Another red flag.
Now, only one day after losing out on Wilson, why have Ron Rivera and Martin Mayhew reacted so quickly to take on the contract of Wentz, while giving up multiple valuable draft choices?
Have they overreacted here in trading so soon for a quarterback that has been anything but impressive his last two seasons?
After losing Wilson yesterday, it seems they were on the rebound to make a move now and thus overpaid.
Entering the third season of his contract, Rivera might be feeling the pressure to win now at the cost of future roster-building through the draft. And based on what we saw from Wentz the last two seasons, his value has noticeably declined.
How did Rivera and Mayhew draw the conclusion that Wentz is such an upgrade over Taylor Heinicke, that they made this type of deal?
I can’t believe I just wrote about this two days ago in how important it is to not present yourself as desperate in negotiations. Yes, Rivera has the right to make the trade, but with all the obvious red flags, what happens if he is wrong on this trade?
