Carson Wentz is facing an uncertain future with the Philadelphia Eagles, the aftermath of a strained relationship with the franchise that has evolved over the past few seasons. Giving Wentz the largest guaranteed contract in NFL history didn't help, as his performance on the field has declined over the past two seasons along with a fractured relationship with the Eagles front office and locker room.
Since the Super Bowl win three years ago, things have not gone right between Wentz and the Eagles -- a relationship that may be fractured beyond repair. Malcolm Jenkins, an Eagles legend from that Super Bowl team and friend of Wentz, broke down what led into Wentz's issues with the Eagles and how both parties failed each other.
"As a teammate and friend of Carson, I think that it always starts with performance and he hasn't performed up to the expectations that everybody's had for him," Jenkins said on The Rich Eisen Show Friday. "I don't think he would say he's played up to his own expectations, but some of the other issues I felt when I was in the locker room was that there was just too much leeway and it didn't make him a better player.
"I don't think they did him any favors by trying to -- kind of -- protect his ego or trying to really protect him as a player as opposed to -- just like every other player -- keeping it performance-based and really being real about what he needed to improve on, but also adjusting to putting him in places that can make him successful. That's a little on the coaching staff and some on the player."
Wentz has not lived up to the $128 million contract he signed in June of 2019, ranking 28th out of 32 qualified quarterbacks in completion percentage (61.21%), 15th in passing yards (6,659), 17th in passing touchdowns (43), eighth in interceptions (22), 26th in passer rating (84.6) and 31st in yards per attempt (6.38). The Eagles are 12-15-1 in Wentz's 28 starts.
Wentz has not performed well and the Eagles have not held him accountable like they had with other players. According to Jenkins, that's where the divide started.
"Every player should go into every offseason evaluating what they did well, what they didn't do well, and you look to see improvement year after year," Jenkins said. "If that's not the case and you don't see it and there are no changes and it's not being addressed, as a player you almost feel like, 'What are we doing?'
"To do the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is insanity. Unfortunately, I think that a little bit of that has taken place over the last two years and this offseason shows that something had to change in a major way. Carson is still there and regardless who they bring in to coach him and get him better, he's still going to have to improve as a player in order for that team to have success."
Whether the Eagles can fix their relationship with Wentz -- or fix him as a quarterback -- is up in the air. At this rate, whether Wentz is actually on the Eagles roster next season is a question that still needs to be answered.
