Well, the deal is done. Earlier today Adam Schefter broke the news that Carson Wentz has been traded to the Indianapolis Colts for a 2021 third-round pick and a 2022 second-round pick that could turn into a first. To start, the trade is made with poor optics on a management perspective. Howie Roseman forced himself into cutting loose a franchise QB while his “stock” is the lowest it’s ever been. This happening just a few weeks after Matthew Stafford is traded for two first round picks, a third round pick, and Jared Goff. If this whole situation was handled more tactfully, the return could’ve rivaled what was received for Stafford. Better yet, it could’ve not been made at all.
In 2016, I was at Carson’s first game as an Eagle. Wentz showed up and alleviated the pain of watching an uninspiring Sam Bradford or a downright dreadful Mark Sanchez. Wentz felt like a blessing. On his first drive, he used the snap count to draw a Cleveland Browns DL offsides on a short third down to get a first down. It blew my mind. Later that game he threw a touchdown to Jordan Mathews in the corner of the end zone. We won that game. Walking out of the stadium my fellow Eagles fans were filled with optimism. “I think we’ve found ourselves a quarterback,” some drunken fan blurted out. I agreed.
In 2017 Wentz set the Eagles up with the best record in the NFC (11-2), before tearing his ACL. He wasn’t able to play in the playoffs, but without him Nick Foles wouldn’t have been able to cement himself as a god-tier Philly sports icon and there wouldn’t have been a Super Bowl parade. It was a team effort, through and through. The winning of the Super Bowl exceeded expectations, and Doug Pederson’s infamous “new norm” quote set it in stone.
I was hopeful for a dynasty that would rival New England’s two decade run. Yet here we are, saying good riddance to one of Philadelphia’s most well-rounded QB’s since Randall Cunningham.
A steady decline followed the Super Bowl season, not just for Carson, but for the entire organization from top to bottom. These years were marred with dropped balls, injuries, poor draft picks, media hit-pieces published on game days, and a “new norm” of mediocrity and frustration. It’s easy to paint Carson as the bad guy, he’s a quiet guy who leads a failing offense. While it’s easy to blame Carson, is it fair? I say no.
Surrounded by an increasingly worse supporting cast of players, Carson’s play obviously suffered. Instead of fixing those problems, the Eagles organization and Philly sports media decided to brand Carson Wentz as the problem. A scapegoat, if you will.
The way Wentz has been portrayed this year is shameful. Radio hosts questioned his character as a man and “fans” called him soft, which is absolutely absurd to me. The man threw a go ahead touchdown on a torn ACL, and he consistently dives head first into defenders. Wentz is an animal and was one of the toughest athletes in the city. Yet here we are. Without a franchise QB and thrusted into a worse situation than where we were.
There’s one thing for certain, you don’t win Super Bowls without a franchise Quarterback. Being stuck without one is a curse reserved for joke teams like the Jets and Jaguars. Nobody wants that. Jalen Hurts, now our QB1, is a player that I don’t have much faith in. He is certainly an upstanding guy with tremendous athletic ability, but Howie Roseman’s gamble that he is the next Russel Wilson is delusional.
So what comes next? A six win season? Since we just traded away our only draft pick who became a Pro Bowler since 2015, I surmise that we will continue to draft poorly and be stuck in the mud for years to come. In 2018, I said that I’d trade 10 years of the Eagles sucking for a Super Bowl. I didn’t think it would actually happen, but some higher power heard what I said and said, “bet.”
Wentz was a lot of fun to watch. Thanks for the memories, Carson.
Philly Plain Dealer 