The Indianapolis Colts on Wednesday agreed to trade Carson Wentz to the Washington Commanders, continuing a wild week of news involving NFL quarterbacks.
The deal hardly was a knee-jerk reaction, though, as a new report from The Athletic’s Zak Keefer shows how adamant the Colts were about moving on from Wentz this offseason.
In fact, Indianapolis reportedly had issues with Wentz even before the season, a jarring reality considering the Colts traded a 2021 third-round pick and a 2022 conditional second-round pick (which since has become a first-rounder) to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for the veteran QB in February 2021.
Here’s more from Keefer:
As for the Colts, the issues with Wentz stretched back to before the season began, one source said, and over the course of the year, some grew frustrated at what they deemed a lack of leadership, a resistance to hard coaching and a reckless style of play, which had a role in several close losses this year.
But this wasn’t just a football move. Wentz’s play, inconsistent as it was to close the year, wasn’t the deciding factor. Colts’ brass simply didn’t trust him to be the franchise quarterback moving forward, and they weren’t willing to bring him back in 2022 and hope for better. Thus, the decision was made swiftly after the Week 18 debacle in Jacksonville: Wentz wouldn’t return for a second season in Indianapolis.
The Colts won six of seven games from early November to Christmas, a stretch that included beating the New England Patriots and Arizona Cardinals in Weeks 15 and 16, respectively. But Indianapolis missed the playoffs entirely thanks to back-to-back losses to the Las Vegas Raiders and Jacksonville Jaguars to close out the season. It was an embarrassing finish to a once-promising campaign, and Wentz’s performance in those defeats did him no favors in the court of public opinion.
According to Keefer, some were convinced that Wentz never was the right fit. After the collapse, a source told Keefer, it was only a matter of time before the sides went their separate ways, and the only question was whether the Colts would trade or cut Wentz. (The latter would have cost the Colts $15 million, a sum they reportedly were prepared to eat, if necessary.)
“They were moving on from Wentz, period,” wrote Keefer, who also heard from a source that Colts owner Jim Irsay declined to meet with Wentz over the last month after the QB reached out to “clear the air.”
The biggest indictment on Wentz might be that Indianapolis doesn’t have a clear succession plan in place at the quarterback position. That could change, of course, but it sure sounds like the Colts were moving on, come hell or high water.
Fortunately for them, they found a willing trade partner in the Commanders, who offered a couple of mid-round draft picks after watching the fates of star quarterbacks Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson be determined this week.
