‘Twas the week of Christmas and the Philadelphia Eagles quarterbacks are stirring.’
What looked to be a healthy and happy partnership between the Eagles front office and QB Carson Wentz has gone sour quickly.
Or has trouble been brewing for a while?
It took 3/4 of the season for Coach Pederson to give rookie QB Jalen Hurts more than a half-hearted chance, and the kid is now literally running with the chance.
Jalen Hurts: 401 total yards in Wk 15 (338 passing, 63 rushing)
That is more than Carson Wentz has had in a single game in his entire career. pic.twitter.com/e0xzcGwV2J
— PFF (@PFF) December 21, 2020
He played a good game in defeat yesterday against the Arizona Cardinals, and he will be the starting quarterback the rest of the season.
So it’s time for the speculation to begin about Wentz’s future in Philly.
Indy Bound
Peter King of NBC Sports is not the first or last analyst to believe that Wentz will be traded to the Indianapolis Colts in the offseason.
Wentz will be reunited with Frank Reich, the Colts head coach, who was his offensive coordinator from 2016-2017.
This is hilarious from @peter_king on Carson Wentz.
“Reunite him with Frank Reich, it’s in central Indiana, everything is nice, calm and cool and there’s no @SportsRadioWIP.” pic.twitter.com/DDmIWvOb9p
— Chase Senior (@Chase_Senior) December 16, 2020
Frank Reich would get his prized pupil back since he has two quarterbacks in Indianapolis with contracts that expire at the end of the season.
Those would be Philip Rivers and Jacoby Brissett.
Money Is (Always) A Problem
Carson Wentz signed a huge contract with the Eagles.
And there’s no easy or financially palpable way out of it until 2022.
He’s fully guaranteed his 2021 money, a paltry $59.2 dead cap charge if he’s released or $33.8 million if he’s traded.
The Colts did make Rivers a $25 million dollar man this year, but it’s unclear if they want to make an even bigger leap for Wentz.
Trouble May Have Been Brewing
All of this discord between Wentz and the Eagles has cropped up since Hurts has seen more playing time.
But some indicate there has been friction ever since the Eagles used their second-round 53rd overall draft pick to get Jalen Hurts.
From the infamous anonymous sources, there is reporting that Wentz did not understand why they drafted a quarterback so early in the draft when he was under a long-term deal.
With his June 2019 contract, Wentz thought he had regained ground with the organization after Nick Foles stole the Super Bowl show.
And that was lost when Hurts came on the scene.
“All that ground he gained over Nick, everything he fought past to get to this point, you pull it right back [by drafting Hurts].”
You can read the tea leaves to see that Wentz was perhaps distracted by this through the season when he really should have used the opportunity to show the Eagles that he was their man.
Perhaps Wentz also reflected a little bit about how it felt to be Sam Bradford in 2016; the dollars weren’t as big but Bradford signed a multi-year contract with the Eagles less than 2 months before the Eagles drafted Wentz.
We know how that ended; Bradford was traded during the 2016 the preseason.
In a tough sports town like Philly, the question now becomes if Wentz gets out angrily or gracefully in the eyes of the fans and organization who once adored him.
NEXT: 3 Cold Hard Facts To Know About QB Jalen Hurts
