Carson Wentz is back in the NFC East.
After one rocky season as the Colts’ starting quarterback, Indianapolis traded the former Eagles star Wednesday to the Washington Commanders, according to several media reports.
The quarterback-needy Commanders struck out on Russell Wilson and Aaron Rodgers on Tuesday, and will now presumably slot Wentz in as their starter, setting up Wentz’s return to Lincoln Financial Field next season. The NFL schedule is expected to be announced in April.
Last year, the Colts sent the Eagles a conditional pick that became the No. 16 pick in this year’s draft and a third-rounder in exchange for Wentz after he experienced a sharp regression in 2020. The return the Colts got after the 29-year-old had a resurgent but uneven 2021 was slightly less than what they gave up. Indy got a third-rounder in this year’s draft and a conditional third-round pick next year that could turn into a second-rounder. The Colts also got a second-round pick swap this year, moving up five spots.
The conditions around the third-rounder are essentially the same as the terms the Eagles and Colts agreed on a little over 12 months ago: The pick jumps up one round if Wentz plays more than 70% of his new team’s offensive snaps.
Wentz, the No. 2 pick in the 2016 draft, had solid numbers as the Colts’ starter last year. He completed 62.4% of his passes while throwing for 3,563 yards, 27 touchdowns and seven interceptions. While his play was much better than it had been the previous year when he threw 15 interceptions and completed 57.4% of his passes, he struggled late in the season.
Those struggles culminated in the Colts’ season finale, a 26-11 loss to the 3-14 Jaguars that cost Indy a playoff berth. Wentz threw an interception and lost a fumble in the road loss. There were also reports that Wentz left something to be desired as a leader in his year with the Colts.
At the NFL scouting combine last week, Colts GM Chris Ballard said the team was still discussing what to do with Wentz, but the lack of a commitment spoke volumes. Colts coach Frank Reich, the Eagles offensive coordinator for Wentz’s first two years with the Eagles, sounded less definitive when asked about Wentz, but he, too, was measured when discussing Wentz.
“You know I believe in Carson,” he said. “I stuck my neck out for him, so last year I was a big part of that decision to get him here. And so I believe he’s going to continue to have a lot of success at quarterback. That might be here. It might not be here. That decision has yet to be determined.”
Ballard also said how Wentz responded to the criticism levied his direction would be “interesting.”
“I think learning to handle the criticism,” Ballard said. “What I think you always have to ask yourself, I always ask it with the criticism I get, which is, some of it’s deserved, but you ask, ‘Is the criticism fair?’ I’ll take it in if it’s fair. ... I’m not saying all of it is, but most of it’s pretty fair. It’ll be interesting to see how he grows from this. I think he will.”
Until the schedule is released, it’s unclear when Wentz’s return to the Linc will be, but 2022 is bound to be full of long-anticipated returns for members of the Eagles’ 2017 Super Bowl champions. Doug Pederson’s Jacksonville Jaguars will visit the Eagles, and Wentz’s Commanders will play them twice.
