Fast Reactions: Philadelphia Eagles Trade Carson Wentz
What looked like the beginning of a fifteen-year odyssey has come to an uncomfortable conclusion.
It’s over in Philadelphia. Carson Wentz has officially been traded to the Indianapolis Colts for what amounts to not very much at all.
With that, Eagles' Twitter can rest. What a month it's been.
So with all this finally behind us, let us reluctantly look at what went wrong, what happens next, and what we can all look forward to in 2021.
It shouldn’t have gone like this.
Wentz was sent to bring balance to Philadelphia, not destroy it.
It turns out he just stamped his ticket to the Dark Side (i.e., the lovely Frank Reich).
But not unlike Anakin Skywalker, Wentz thought he had it all figured out, a revelation that came out first following reports from Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
‘Wentz does want to win. He is tireless. He is dedicated. No one publicly has ever suggested otherwise, and the same seemingly holds privately. But his resistance to hard instruction made him lose faith from coaches and an unwillingness to accept blame for his mistakes hurt him in the locker room.’ — Jeff McLane, Philadelphia Inquirer
Now, Wentz has received the opportunity to silence his doubters and start anew. May the farce be with him.
MY WAY TO FAST REACTION
As an Eagles fan, this breaks my heart.
I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say that Wentz changed Philadelphia. Not since Donovan McNabb had the Eagles had ‘their guy’ under center.
They mortgaged their future to bring him in, and things got off to a fantastic start.
Wentz orchestrated an 18–11 record through his first two seasons while gaining traction as a legitimate MVP candidate with a 33–7 touchdown to interception ratio and 101.9 quarterback rating in his second campaign.
Then he tore his ACL, and things just weren’t ever quite the same.
2020 hurt our hearts as we watched Wentz turn the ball over nineteen times while tacking on fifty total sacks, both worst in the NFL, without playing the last four games of the season.
It’s unfortunate to say, but this is just what’s best for both parties at this point. The Eagles are going to take a financial hit, but that was inevitable.
At least they can head into next season with an additional third-round pick (meh), a pretty clear-cut quarterback room (barring something ridiculous), and a young coach with very few expectations, especially following his eloquent presser.
The Eagles didn’t receive much in return here, but that may be the most fitting ending to this relationship.
Here’s hoping that conditional first-rounder turns into just that, and Philadelphia can finally retire this tired conversation.
