Philadelphia Eagles: Commanders fans want Carson Wentz

When the Philadelphia Eagles made a series of trades to land Carson Wentz all of those years ago, it left the team at a bit of a draft pick deficit.

After trading Kiko Alonso, Byron Maxwell, and the 13th overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft to the Miami Dolphins for the eighth overall pick, Howie Roseman shipped five draft picks – a 2016 first-round pick, a 2016 third-round pick, 2016 fourth-round, 2017 first-round pick, and a 2018 second-round pick – to the Cleveland Browns for the second overall pick and the right to draft either Wentz or Jared Goff, depending on which quarterback wasn’t selected first overall.

Was the price high? You bet, but in the NFL – especially the post-RGIII trade NFL – such is the price of a blockbuster deal for a franchise quarterback, especially for a team initially picking in the teens.

Fortunately, Roseman was largely able to replenish his draft stock over the following years, with his biggest draft haul coming just before the 2016 season, when the Minnesota Vikings surrendered a first-round pick and a conditional fourth-round pick to secure the services of Sammy Sleeves himself, Sam Bradford. That move, which aged like room temperature milk, set the Eagles up to draft Derek Barnett with the 14th overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft and Josh Sweat in 2018 and might just go down as the most lopsided deal in recent Eagles history… well, until now.

That’s right, after trading one former starting quarterback for a first-round pick in 2016, Howie Roseman accomplished the feat again in 2021, when he flipped Wentz to the Indianapolis Colts for a conditional pick that ultimately became a first-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. That pick, whether used outright or swapped yet again for even more assets, has the potential to set the Philadelphia Eagles up for a solid future, while the Colts reportedly already have buyer’s remorse and may either trade or outright cut their quarterback over the next few months.

But hey, it’s cool; while Carson Wentz didn’t work out in Indie, some fans down I-95 appear to be into the idea of landing a quarterback with hair that matches their jerseys.

Could the Philadelphia Eagles play Carson Wentz twice a year?

The now-Washington Commanders haven’t had a franchise quarterback in ages.

Once lauded for drafting both Robert Griffin III and Kirk Cousins in the very same draft, a hit rate unprecedented over the last two decades, the team has struggled to find a long-term replacement once the latter left town following a series of franchise tags for the bright lights of Minnesota, where he, ironically, replaced Sam Bradford (and Case Keenum).

Since that day in 2018, nine(!) different quarterbacks have started games for whatever name the Washington football franchise was using at the time, which *spoiler alert* is a lot.

Now granted, that isn’t all on Washington’s poor decision-making or player evaluation. Alex Smith suffered a grizzly injury that nearly cost him his career, and Dwayne Haskins flamed out in spectacular fashion during his abbreviated tenure in burgundy and gold, but time and time again, the franchise chose to stick with safe, underwhelming options instead of taking a swing on a boom-or-bust product with massive upside but some level of risk typically associated with any free agent allowed to test free agency.

With news seeping out that the Indianapolis Colts may be on the lookout for a new quarterback this offseason, some fans of the Commanders have keyed in on Carson Wentz as the next guy to lead their franchise in their inaugural campaign under their new moniker.

Playing Wentz twice a season in 2021 and beyond? Yeah, I would imagine most Philadelphia Eagles fans would sign up for that one.

Now, assuming Wentz becomes an unrestricted free agent who can choose his destination, becoming a Commander does make a decent bit of sense. The team has a good offensive line, a really good wide receiver in Terry McLauren, and the benefit of playing in a division he knows very well. If Ron Rivera can get the defense up to his prime Carolina standards, Wentz could find himself in a situation a la Indianapolis but with an offense designed around his talents.

But really, after failing to elevate a Colts offense fueled by one of the most dominant running backs we’ve seen in some time, is such an offense guaranteed to succeed? Is there an offense, be that Tampa Bay, Washington, or even Minnesota, that can be built around Wentz’s talents when he struggled mightily in two very different schemes from 2020 through 2021? Only time will tell, but if his next stop doesn’t work out, it’s hard to see a fourth team in as many seasons lining up to give the pride of Bismark the reigns to their offense.

There’s an old saying in sports that you would rather give up on a player one year early than one year late. This philosophy has made Bill Belichick look like a psychic and is why Howie Roseman was able to secure a first-round pick for Carson Wentz, where Colts GM Chris Ballard might have to eat $19 million of his salary without so much as a draft pick to serve as compensation. Could both the Philadelphia Eagles and the Indianapolis Colts be wrong? Could another change of scenery be just what the doctor ordered to get “2017 Carson Wentz” back? Only time will tell, but if Wentz is, in fact, available, more than a few Washington Commanders fans are interested in his services.