Indianapolis Colts quarterback Carson Wentz is all of the talk this offseason surrounding the team, which is exactly what they didn’t want after his first full season in Indy.
Now, everyone’s wondering where Wentz will end up. Will the Colts run it back for another season? Will they find a trade partner that’s willing to take on his contract and erratic play? No one truly knows for sure.
But in his bold predictions piece for The Athletic, Sheil Kapadia predicts the Colts send Wentz to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Here’s a snippet of what he said about the bold prediction:
Wentz has a salary of $22 million ($15 million guaranteed) in 2022, along with a $6.3 million roster bonus. He’s under contract through 2024 but has no guarantees beyond next season. In other words, if things go well, great. You get him for three years. If things go terribly, you’re not tied to him. You can move on after one season.
Predicting compensation for quarterbacks is always difficult. Usually, it ends up being more than anticipated. The New York Jets received three picks, including a second-rounder, from the Carolina Panthers for Sam Darnold. But Darnold was coming from a terrible situation, was on a less expensive contract, and the Panthers were desperate.
A third- or a fourth-round pick might be more realistic for Wentz, and it’s entirely possible that he won’t even be able to fetch that much. Teams will have to wonder: If Reich, who put his reputation on the line for Wentz, is willing to give up on him after one year, why should we believe we can get something better out of him?
The Bucs were one of the teams we listed in our “potential trade destinations” for Wentz. But that’s assuming Tom Brady stays retired and Bruce Arians doesn’t want to bring in a player like Wentz.
There is serious baggage when it comes to Wentz’s career to the point where teams may just want to steer clear of the entire situation.
We’ll see what happens over the next month but the buzz around Wentz going someplace else isn’t dying away anytime soon.
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