The Carson Wentz era is over in Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Eagles have agreed to trade the 2016 No. 2 overall pick to the Indianapolis Colts for a 2021 third-round pick and a conditional 2022 second-round pick that could turn into a first, CBS Sports NFL Insider Jason La Canfora confirms. The conditions of the 2022 pick turning into a first are as followed:
- Wentz reaches 75% of the offensive snaps in 2021
- 70% of the offensive snaps and Colts make the playoffs
The Colts did make the playoffs in 2020 with an 11-5 record and Philip Rivers as the quarterback. Wentz is heading to a team that has a head coach he trusts in Frank Reich (who was the Eagles offensive coordinator in 2016 and 2017) -- and they run a similar style of offense as what Wentz ran when he developed into one of the best young quarterbacks in the NFL over his first two seasons.
Indianapolis also has an offensive line that allowed the second-fewest sacks in the league last year (21, tied with the Green Bay Packers) and features a young core of skill position players that includes Jonathan Taylor and Michael Pittman.
As for the snap count, Wentz played 66% of the snaps in 2018, 99% in 2019, and 72% in 2020 before his benching. he has played over 75% of his team's snaps three times in his five seasons.
Philadelphia had a deadline to deal Wentz, who is due a $10 million roster bonus on March 19. Per CBS NFL analyst Joel Corry, the $10 million would be a financial expenditure and cap charge with a trade. Philadelphia's cap charge or dead money would consist of the $33,820,611 of bonus proration left in Wentz's contract, hence why the Eagles wanted to deal Wentz before that date.
SportsLine data scientist Stephen Oh broke down the Colts win projection with Wentz on the roster. If Jacoby Brissett -- who is a free agent -- was the quarterback in 2021, the Colts were projected to win 9.4 game. With Wentz, that number increases to 9.7 -- a +0.3 difference.
"The sims were high on the Colts already and the addition of Wentz, despite his bad play last season, did improve them," Oh said. "While their average wins per sim improved by just +0.3 their chances of getting a better seed and advancing improved quite a bit."
Colts | Win | Win% | Division | Playoff | Conference | Super Bowl |
With Brissett | 9.4 | 58.8% | 64.6% | 81.6% | 11.6% | 5.8% |
With Wentz | 9.7 | 60.6% | 70.4% | 85.5% | 14.7% | 8.0% |
Difference | +0.3 | 1.9% | 5.8% | 3.9% | 3.1% | 2.2% |
Wentz's roller-coaster tenure in Philadelphia includes a 35-32-1 record as the starter. A Pro Bowler in 2017, Wentz is the first Eagle to throw for over 4,000 yards in a season. Wentz's inconsistency, however, ultimately contributed to his short stint with the franchise.
Wentz was an immediate starter for the Eagles under former head coach Doug Pederson. After going 7-9 as a rookie, Wentz went 11-2 as the Eagles' starter before suffering a season-ending injury in Week 13. Wentz was infamously replaced by Nick Foles, who led Philadelphia to an improbable Super Bowl win over the New England Patriots.
Injuries again plagued Wentz in 2018, a Foles replaced him during the second half of the season. Despite Foles' success, the Eagles traded him while giving Wentz a four-year extension in June of 2019.
The 2020 season was a disaster for Wentz and the Eagles. Wentz threw a league-high 15 interceptions while going 3-8-1 as the team's starter. His last snap as an Eagle took place in the team's Week 13 loss to the Packers. Wentz was pulled from that game in favor of rookie Jalen Hurts, who started the team's final four games. Wentz was inactive for Philadelphia's controversial loss to the Washington Football Team in Week 17.
The Eagles fired Pederson in January. They have replaced him with Nick Sirianni, who spent the past three seasons as the Colts' offensive coordinator. Philadelphia, by virtue of its 4-11-1 record, will have the No. 6 overall pick in the 2021 draft.
Fantasy impact
A change of scenery should do wonders for Wentz, who will be reunited with his former OC and protected by a more formidable offensive line. The trade should improve Wentz's 2021 fantasy value, but it stands to be a potentially massive boost for the fantasy value of now-projected Eagles starter Jalen Hurts. Senior Fantasy Writer Heath Cummings cautions to wait until the end of the 2021 NFL Draft (where the Eagles hold the No. 6 overall pick), but remains very bullish on Hurts' fantasy outlook for 2021.
"The far more interesting quarterback from a Fantasy perspective is Jalen Hurts," Cummings wrote. "He was the No. 9 quarterback in Fantasy in the final four weeks of 2020 despite the fact that he was pulled early in Week 17. Hurts was below average as a passer, completing just 52% of his passes and turning the ball over five times in four games. But we generally expect quarterbacks to improve in the offseason after their rookie year, and Hurts' 68 rushing yards per game can cover up a lot of flaws in the passing game -- at least in Fantasy.
"There is still some risk the Eagles take a quarterback in the NFL Draft, but assuming they don't, he's going to project very well. In my very first projection, he came out at QB7, ahead of fellow second-year quarterbacks Justin Herbert and Joe Burrow."
