Philadelphia Eagles: Just how high is Carson Wentz’s trade value?

Wentz’s market and compensation

If Carson Wentz were to be made available in trade talks, or even if he wasn’t, but other teams sensed some doubt, he would without a doubt be the most valuable player on the block in years.

More valuable than Marcus Peters, greater than Alex Smith, and yes, even greater than Khalil Mack.

With almost half of the league’s teams either actively searching for a franchise quarterback, or saddled with an aging vet slowly inching towards retirement with each passing year, the market for Wentz would be legendary, with teams good and bad pledging ever expansive war chests for his services.

However, this would not be the first trade directly involving Wentz in the NFL.

As many fans will (probably) remember, the Birds had to give up two first round picks, a second round pick, and (in a separate trade) Kiko Alonso, and Byron Maxwell to procure the second overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft from the Cleveland Browns.

While, at the time, some wondered if this was just compensation, that is almost an afterthought now based on his on-field production.

Furthermore, Wentz’s presence also helped to facilitate the Sam Bradford trade that landed the Eagles Derek Barnett in the 2017 NFL Draft, in a move that inadvertently changed the landscape of the entire NFL (more on that here).

So, needless to say, if Wentz were to be traded, the Eagles would at the very least want to recoup the original compensation they gave away for his services, and then some.

It’s not outside of the realm of possibility to imagine a package featuring four first-round picks being offered for Wentz’s services, maybe more; that’s just how valuable a franchise quarterback is in the NFL.

So, if we were to use four draft picks as a baseline, what kind of compensation would teams offer in exchange for Wentz, and who would want the third-year quarterback?

Well, assuming that the team wouldn’t want to ship Wentz to a division rival, a deal involving Saquon Barkley notwithstanding, it really doesn’t matter who the Eagles would send Wentz to, only the package involved.

While one could argue that trading the ‘Bismark Bullet’ to a team like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers would provide better draft compensation than, say, the New England Patriots, whoever lands Wentz in a deal will instantly become a better team, so that argument really doesn’t hold much ground past the initial offering.

No, for my money, if I believe that Foles gives the Eagles the best chance to compete for championships early and often, then I’m sending Wentz to whichever (non-NFC East) team is willing to part with the most assist, both present, and future.

Would a team like the Los Angeles Chargers be willing to include a player like Melvin Gordon or Derwin James in a deal that landed them a franchise quarterback?

And what about the Jacksonville Jaguars? After having their season derailed by Blake Bortles, would they be willing to include players like Leonard Fournette, Myles Jack, or Jalen Ramsey in a trade that procured them a true franchise quarterback?

First round picks are nice, but many, many teams would give away half a decades worth of first round picks to secure a franchise quarterback. The Eagles have two on their roster right now, and therefore have immense power in trade talks that have seldom been seen in recent discussions.