The Indianapolis Colts have been honest to a fault about the necessity of moving on from quarterback Carson Wentz after just one season. The fit was so bad, apparently, that even a trip to the playoffs may not have saved Wentz’s job.
Colts GM Chris Ballard appeared on Wednesday’s PFTPM and admitted that even if the Colts had not suffered a late collapse, Wentz may have been out the door at the end of the season.
“I think we still would’ve had some hard discussions,” Ballard said, via Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. “Just the way we played down the stretch, and we knew we needed to make some improvements in that area. The one thing I think [owner] Jim [Irsay] and I and [coach] Frank [Reich] are when we know something’s not a good fit, don’t just try to justify it. Let’s move forward. We all knew we were going to get egg on our face. That is what it is, but at the end of the day it’s about doing the right thing for the organization. I think even if we would’ve ended up in the playoffs, we would’ve had some hard discussions going forward.”
This essentially confirms reports that the Colts were low on patience with Wentz even before the team’s brutal late-season collapse. The Week 18 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars seemed to be the perfect pretext for the Colts to get out of the relationship without needing to offer much justification, though the organization has not been shy about providing it.
The Colts replaced Wentz with Matt Ryan, who is earning plenty of plaudits early on. That would seem to bode well going forward, especially if he inspires more confidence than Wentz apparently did.
