Trading Wentz Is A Mistake
Let me start out by saying that at this point, a trade is inevitable. When the 2021 season starts, Carson Wentz will be playing for another team. The quarterback that Howie Roseman traded up for in the 2016 draft, and used as his shining example that he did in fact know how to evaluate talent, ….will be gone. After 5 seasons, no playoff wins, many many injuries, and one MASSIVE dead cap hit, the man who was supposed to be the franchise quarterback will have moved on to another franchise.
Many fans will be thrilled when a trade goes down. Many fans want to dive Carson Wentz to the airport and then head home and burn their #11 jerseys. We all know at least one person who has turned on the former MVP candidate. Maybe they were a member of the “Folsian society” and they started to turn on Wentz after the Super Bowl. Maybe they did a 180 on him this past season when he was arguably the worst QB in the league. Whenever it was, it happened. And there are plenty of fans out there that feel that way. “Get him out of here! Hes a baby! He sucks.”
And to those people I say “weve never learned from our past mistakes.”
No doubt in my mind that Carson Wentz is partly to blame for this. His attitude was terrible, and you cant ignore the stories that have come out about him struggling in the locker room. Stories started to leak out in 2019 from the PhillyVoice and many thought it was nonsense….at the time. But then more players come out and all but confirm that 2019 story. The latest being Malcolm Jenkins.
"Something has to change."
— Rich Eisen Show (@RichEisenShow) January 29, 2021
-had to ask #Saints S @MalcolmJenkins about what's going on with his former team and the #FlyEaglesFly QB situation:#NFL pic.twitter.com/CGpBvGqfgI
Carson Wentz clearly didnt/hasnt handle things well. The most damning piece might’ve been Jeff McLane’s article which came out almost 2 years to the day of the PhillyVoice piece. It labled Wentz a selfish, non leader who would change plays out of spite for the head coach. Theres way too much smoke to ignore. So why then is moving on from Wentz such a mistake? Because deep down, inside, theres a franchise quarterback.
Too many fans have forgotten the MVP candidate. Too many fans have forgotten the quarterback who became the first quarterback in franchise history to throw for 4,000 yards with a wide receiver corp of Alshon Jeffery, Nelson Agholor, Greg Ward, Mack Hollins, JJ Arcega White-Side, and the ghost of DeSean Jackson? Too many fans have forgotten that from 2017-2020 had 81 touchdowns and 21 interceptions. Too many fans have forgotten that this guy is a damn good player, and a player that some organizations spend YEARS trying to find.
I have no idea why Carson Wentz struggled so badly this season. I have theories, but they are just that. Because no one could have predicted that a player with that talent couldve regressed THIS badly. Because Wentz was a magician. He was a player who was thriving with Zach Ertz and the equivalent of James Thrash and Todd Pinkston at receiver. He was out there “playing Madden”
Jason Kelce to Carson Wentz: "Are you a f*cking robot?!! WTF you're playing Madden out there." #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/YJhiYaPvfE
— uSTADIUM (@uSTADIUM) September 28, 2016
But he was bothered by the statue of Nick Foles. He was REALLY bothered when the organization drafted Jalen Hurts. A decision mind you, that wasn’t popular with the fan base! So Joe Hoagiemouth was angry about the decision to take a quarterback but Carson Wentz is supposed to be thrilled? By the way, he tried hard to put on a strong face.
Welcome to the best football city in America brotha! https://t.co/CKAMNLO7mb
— Carson Wentz (@cj_wentz) April 25, 2020
Even after Carson Wentz was benched in favor of Hurts against Green Bay, Wentz continued to put on a strong face. He didn’t pout, it was actually quite the opposite. He was seen clapping on the sidelines and being a good teammate. As he should. But if I put myself in his shoes, I wouldn’t be happy. You probably wouldn’t be happy. We saw John Elway get pissed when the Bronco’s drafted Tommy Maddox in the first round back in 1992. Elway was 32. But he was the franchise quarterback who fractured his relationship with coach Dan Reeves when they picked the heir apparent. Thats the one example I could honestly think of because drafting a quarterback THAT high when you already have a franchise quarterback is asinine. And dont get it twisted; Wentz was the franchise quarterback, and that pick was asinine. But Wentz didn’t pout in the public. He pouted behind closed doors. And I think that’s a pretty understandable reaction. Good teammate in the room, but pissed off Eagle once he leaves Novacare.
But Carson Wentz definitely has his flaws and last year was the culmination of every single one of them. But trading him is a mistake. The Eagles, along with Nick Sirianni should find a way to make this work. They should sit down with the disgruntled quarterback and make him believe in the “new” Eagles. The Sirianni Eagles. Its obvious that Wentz has requested a trade. But just because someone requests a trade doesn’t mean you HAVE to trade them.
I have this nightmare the last few nights where Im sitting at a table with friends and Im saying “I wish they just could’ve made it work.” and I think were talking about the Eagles breakup with Terrell Owens. But were not. Were talking about the Eagles breakup with Carson Wentz. Because I truly believe that Wentz leaves Philly, after ONE bad (REALLY bad) year, and regains his form. That MVP form that we saw and fell in love with. And the Eagles, the organization that ushered him out, struggles to get to 6 wins and with their first pick in the 2022 NFL Draft Nick Sirianni selects his handpicked quarterback. I think THAT scenario is way more likely than the Eagles fleece a franchise of picks, Carson continues to struggle, and Jalen Hurts becomes an All-Pro leading the franchise to greatness. And I really hope that the latter comes to fruition. Im an Eagles fan first. Bad football is tough to watch. Last season wasn’t fun. But in 2005 this franchise, and fan base couldn’t wait to get rid of a disgruntled wide receiver . He went on to have 3 more 1000+ yard seasons and now we look back on it like “damn….wish they would’ve just talked it out and made it work.”
I just cant shake the feeling that the Eagles are letting go of something great, but currently broken and fixable. And it probably has to do with the man pulling the strings in Howie Roseman. The real issue at hand that Jeffrey Lurie continues to ignore. But trading talented, yet disgruntled players is never a great move in my opinion. To be fair, maybe theyve tried to fix it and they simply cant. I dont know, and you dont know, and the only people that do know are those in the front office and Carson Wentz. But my guess is a quarterback who was allowed to do whatever he wanted, and is coming off a horrible year, asked for a trade and the front office said “OK!” and didn’t make a real effort.
The Eagles should make this work. They lit their house on fire and want to be praised when they then try to put the fire out. They’re an absolute mess and the worst is they dont even realize it. And trading Carson Wentz would be yet another mistake on a long long list of mistakes. I fear weve never learned from the mistakes of wanting to drive a disgruntled athlete out of town, only to realize years later that the franchise was not better off and shouldve made it work. Charles Barkley. T.O. and Almost Allen Iverson (shout out to the REAL MVP Matt Geiger) are just a few names that come to mind.
I hope im wrong. I hope this article is on Cold Takes Exposed twitter account for years to come. Time will tell if the Eagles are about to make a colossal mistake.
