ESPN announcer suggests Eagles have too much invested in Carson Wentz to bench him

Carson Wentz has not played well this season, which has put the Philadelphia Eagles in a bad spot.

The Eagles drafted Wentz No. 2 overall in 2016 and signed him to a massive contract extension last June. Ordinarily, when a quarterback has been as ineffective as Wentz has this season, and a team has a quarterback they drafted in the second round behind him, a switch is in order.

ESPN’s announcers brought up the subject during the Eagles’ “Monday Night Football” game against the Seattle Seahawks and effectively said the team has too much money invested in Wentz to bench him.

“It’s not all about the play on the field,” play-by-play announcer Steve Levy said. “Some of this is above the head coach decision.”

The implication is that head coach Doug Pederson might want to make a switch, but those above him are reluctant to do so.

“There’s a lot of money that’s been invested in Carson Wentz. A lot of money was guaranteed to him at signing. It would be very cost-prohibitive for him to be cut after the 2020 season. The only real recourse they could possibly have is trade. But Carson Wentz is going to be here. They don’t want to pull the plug on him; they just want to get him playing better. They need to get some more people around him,” analyst Louis Riddick said.

The Eagles did give backup Jalen Hurts some action on Monday night as expected. But this explanation meshes with what was reported last week about why Wentz has not been benched.

Wentz is completing a career-low 58.4 percent of his passes this season. His 14 touchdowns and 14 interceptions are the worse ratio of his career. For what it’s worth, a report on Monday said that Eagles ownership would allow Wentz to be benched, despite what these announcers said.