Carson Wentz may ask the Philadelphia Eagles to trade him this offseason, and apparently the former first-round pick already has a preferred destination in mind.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reported on Sunday that Wentz would prefer to be traded to the Indianapolis Colts over “several other choices.” Colts head coach Frank Reich was the offensive coordinator for the Eagles in 2016 and 2017.
There have been some conflicting reports about Wentz’s future in Philadelphia, but the latest from ESPN’s Chris Mortensen claims the relationship between Wentz and the Eagles is “fractured” and the quarterback plans to ask for a trade.
It’s unclear if the Eagles are ready to commit to Jalen Hurts as their starting QB going forward. Wentz appears to still have some supporters within the organization, and Philly has invested a ton in him. Ownership may not be willing to give up on Wentz just yet after all the Eagles have paid the former second overall pick.
Of course, the Colts could also bring back Philip Rivers. There has been talk of the 39-year-old retiring after the season, but it sounds like he would prefer to keep playing.
Carson Wentz is facing an uncertain future in Philadelphia after he was benched for Jalen Hurts, and the former first-round pick may have already decided he wants a fresh start elsewhere.
ESPN’s Chris Mortensen said on “Sunday NFL Countdown” that Wentz has a “fractured” relationship with the Eagles. While there have been reports that Wentz still has supporters within the organization, Mortensen says the quarterback is planning to ask for a trade.
“His relationship with the Eagles is all but fractured. In fact, it is fractured,” Mortensen said, via Tim Daniels of Bleacher Report. “Wentz is expected to ask the Eagles for a trade and will help the Eagles facilitate a trade. The reaction of Jeffrey Lurie, the owner, will be vital to this one, but right now Wentz clearly wants out of Philadelphia and a fresh start somewhere else.”
Wentz has been one of the worst quarterbacks in the NFL this season. The Eagles have looked better on offense with Hurts under center, but they were eliminated from the postseason hunt with last week’s 37-17 loss to the Dallas Cowboys. Philly is 1-2 since Hurts took over as the starter.
We know Wentz is unhappy with his current situation, but that goes without saying. A quarterback that the Eagles drafted in the second round took his job, which doesn’t bode well for Wentz’s future. However, one recent report seemed to indicate the Eagles don’t want to part ways with Wentz.
Wentz isn’t going to want to stick around in Philadelphia if the team views Hurts as its starter heading into 2021. Whether or not that is the case remains to be seen.
Rex Ryan had a harsh message for Carson Wentz.
Wentz has been demoted to the backup quarterback of the Philadelphia Eagles as Jalen Hurts has now started two weeks in a row. A report on Sunday said that Wentz is unhappy with the situation and would want to be traded or released by Philly if things don’t change.
Ryan heard that report and responded to it by telling Wentz to grow up and take the demotion better.
“First off, you think Philly’s gonna allow this guy to come back? And I’m talking about the fan base and the people of Philadelphia. This is the wrong town to be messing with. Here’s the thing: Carson Wentz, you don’t want to be a backup? Well, no kidding. Everybody in the world doesn’t want to be a backup,” Ryan said.
“I’ll tell you who’s more disappointed other than Carson Wentz. How about the Philadelphia Eagles. They gave you a $100 million, and you think, ‘Oh I’m disappointed I’m a backup.’ So are we! So are we! You think we gave you $100 million to be wasted on the bench? No! You’re getting beat out by a guy I quite honestly didn’t think had the skillset.
“The biggest thing is: quit being a baby. You’re yesterday’s news.”
Ryan gets paid to give these kinds of opinions, so his tone shouldn’t be surprised. But with the way Wentz and Hurts have played this season, it’s hard to imagine Wentz having much more of a future with the Eagles. That is why he reportedly wants out.
The Philadelphia Eagles have yet to indicate that they plan to move on from Carson Wentz this offseason, but it sounds like the former second overall pick will want out if he does not get his starting job back sooner rather than later.
Wentz is unhappy with the way things have unfolded with the Eagles this season, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. The 27-year-old has no interest in riding things out as a backup and would want to be traded or released if the situation remains unchanged.
While Eagles head coach Doug Pederson has not named Hurts the starting quarterback for the remainder of the season, ESPN’s Chris Mortensen was told by sources that Wentz will not get his job back this year.
Other teams have taken note of the situation in Philly and have already inquired about potentially trading for Wentz, according to Schefter.
Wentz’s $22 million base salary for 2022 will become fully guaranteed in mid-March. His $10 million roster bonus for 2021 will also be paid out at that time, so the Eagles do have a timeline of sorts for deciding his future with the franchise. They could save the $22 million for 2022 if they cut him and designate him a post-June 1 release, but Philly would still owe Wentz the $10 million roster bonus plus his $15.4 million base salary for next season if they go that route.
Despite all that, a recent report seemed to hint that Wentz’s future with the Eagles could be safe. Of course, that could change if he asks the team to move on from him.
The Philadelphia Eagles finally decided to bench Carson Wentz in favor of rookie Jalen Hurts for Sunday’s game against the New Orleans Saints, but that does not mean they are giving up on the former No. 2 overall pick.
The Eagles still believe in Wentz and think the 27-year-old can return to the MVP-caliber quarterback he once was, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. One team source told Schefter that Wentz’s poor play this season and benching do not change “the belief that people have in Carson.”
Wentz’s $22 million base salary for 2022 will become fully guaranteed in mid-March. His $10 million roster bonus for 2021 will also be paid out at that time, so the Eagles do have a timeline of sorts for deciding his future with the franchise. They could save the $22 million for 2022 if they cut him and designate him a post-June 1 release, but Philly would still owe Wentz the $10 million roster bonus plus his $15.4 million base salary for next season if they go that route.
Of course, the Eagles could also trade Wentz. If that happens before the third day of the league year in mid-March, they would not owe him his $10 million roster bonus.
It’s easy for the Eagles to say they still believe in Wentz before Hurts has made a start. If the former Alabama star struggles, Philadelphia will be more likely to keep Wentz. If Hurts ignites the team and puts his funny wardrobe mistake in the past, Wentz’s future with the Eagles will be in serious question.
Plenty of people believe the Philadelphia Eagles’ decision to bench Carson Wentz is justified. It seems like at least one teammate isn’t in agreement, though.
Eagles defensive lineman Fletcher Cox hinted at dissatisfaction with coach Doug Pederson’s decision to bench Wentz for Jalen Hurts. Cox “liked” a tweet that urged people to retweet if they wanted Hurts as starter and like if they preferred Wentz.
On Wednesday, Cox called Wentz his “best friend” on the team, and made clear that he wasn’t walking back his Twitter activity.
“Carson is my best friend. He’s my guy,” Cox said, via Tim McManus of ESPN. “I’ve always had his back since Day 1. Jalen, he’s my teammate also, so you’ve got to support whoever is in there. It’s the NFL and we understand that things happen. It sucks for a guy like Carson to be put in that position because it never just comes down to one guy; there are 11 guys on the field.
“With that being said, my tweet is my tweet and I stand with it.”
Cox has been with the Eagles since 2012 and has been a Pro Bowler the last five years. Wentz has been with the team since 2016.
Cox’s support of Wentz puts Pederson — and some of the other players — in an awkward spot. There’s clearly a lot of loyalty to Wentz in the locker room. However, Wentz just hasn’t been getting the job done. He’s completed fewer than 60 percent of his passes and has been intercepted 15 times. Hurts, meanwhile, looked much sharper in his appearance Sunday. Pederson really had no choice here, even if it’s unpopular in the locker room.
Carson Wentz has been one of the worst quarterbacks in the NFL this season, and Philadelphia Eagles head coach Doug Pederson has officially stripped him of his starting spot.
The Eagles have named rookie Jalen Hurts their starting QB for Sunday’s game against the New Orleans Saints, ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Chris Mortensen first reported. The team later confirmed the news.
Hurts has been eased into action with the Eagles over the past two weeks. He replaced Wentz in the third quarter of the team’s game against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday with his team down 20-3, and he ended up throwing a touchdown on a beautiful pass. The former Alabama star’s stat line was not all that impressive, however, as he completed just 5-of-12 passes and threw an interception.
Pederson has been fielding questions for weeks now about benching Wentz. The belief is that the Eagles have stood by the No. 2 overall pick because they are paying him so much money, but he has thrown 15 interceptions and has a passer rating of 72.8. The lack of production could only be ignored for so long.
While Wentz took responsibility for his poor play recently, he did not turn things around against Green Bay. Fans will likely be pleased that the QB change has been made.
Some NFL teams managed to lose games in truly brutal fashion during Week 13. Some of it was bad execution, some of it was bad coaching, and some of it was a heavy dose of both. Indeed, the end of a few of these games were truly painful to watch just because of how things went for the losers.
It wasn’t just that, though. There were some top players who really struggled, and some big names may have even lost jobs as a result. Here are five big disappointments from Week 13.
Gregg Williams, defensive coordinator, Jets
Williams has always been philosophically unique to say the least. But there’s having a unique gameplan and having a stupid one. With 13 seconds left and the opponent being 46 yards out needing a touchdown with no timeouts, electing not to just drop deep and cover is stupid. The Jets rushed seven, the Raiders were able to isolate Henry Ruggs one-on-one with no safety help, and the Jets got torched. The call was so bad that Williams’ own players publicly criticized it. Not just that, but some even wondered if he was trying to throw the game.
Los Angeles Chargers
Anthony Lynn repeated the word after the Chargers lost 45-0 to the New England Patriots on Sunday: unacceptable. There’s another word you could use too: embarrassing. The Chargers absolutely embarrassed themselves in their defeat. They allowed a punt return for a touchdown and had a field goal returned for a touchdown. They gained only 258 total yards. They threw two interceptions. And there were questions about why they kept their quarterback in late. The Chargers are now 3-9, and Anthony Lynn is facing serious questions about his job.
Carson Wentz, QB, Eagles
To be clear, Wentz has been a disappointment all season, but Sunday’s game took it to a new level. It’s not just that Wentz was bad again, even though he was — 6/15 for 79 yards in over three quarters is never going to get it done. The disappointment is how easily jumpstarted the Eagles looked after Jalen Hurts replaced him. Hurts threw for more yards after coming in during the fourth than Wentz had the entire game, and unleashed some very nice passes like this one. Hurts probably starts going forward, and Wentz only has himself to blame.
Chicago Bears
According to ESPN, the Bears’ win probability stood at 99.1 percent with 4:33 left in the fourth quarter. Then came the collapse. The Lions needed just 2:15 to go 96 yards to turn a 30-20 deficit into 30-27. Then, with 1:46 left, a Mitchell Trubisky sack-fumble gave the Lions the ball at the 7-yard line, which the Lions promptly punched in to go up 34-30. The Bears’ season is collapsing quickly, largely due to awful quarterback play. Neither Trubisky nor Nick Foles are the answer. Coach Matt Nagy might not be either.
Russell Wilson, QB, Seahawks
It turns out the Giants are quite good defensively. That said, Wilson’s performance was so messy that it may have tanked his MVP hopes once and for all. The Seahawks quarterback ended up rallying for 263 yards, but struggled to get the passing game going and threw just one touchdown to one interception. That touchdown didn’t even come until the fourth quarter, when the Seahawks were trying to rally from a 17-5 deficit. Wilson has now posted four consecutive underwhelming statistical performances, and looks to have faded from his midseason high.
Extra: Nick Martin, C, Texans
There are few worse ways to lose a game than a bad snap, and that’s what happened to Martin on Sunday. With less than a minute and a half to go in regulation, the Texans were set up for 2nd-and-goal at the 2. A go-ahead touchdown seemed inevitable until Martin botched the snap, and Deshaun Watson was unable to retain possession. The Texans have had some tough losses this year, but this was probably the worst, just because of the manner of it. Martin will be having nightmares about that snap.
Jalen Hurts saw some playing time for the second consecutive game and even gave his Philadelphia Eagles a brief spark on Sunday. So with Carson Wentz still struggling, who will the Eagles use at quarterback moving forward? That is a question many are wondering.
Doug Pederson was asked that very question after Philly lost 30-16 to the Green Bay Packers. Unsurprisingly, the head coach didn’t share much.
Wentz has not been giving the Eagles a chance to win, which is why Philly has eased Hurts into games. But is Hurts able to do better? He threw one touchdown pass on a fourth down play, but he was only 5/12 and had an interception.
Neither of Philly’s quarterback options right now seem to be very good. But Wentz hasn’t been doing enough, and that may be all the reason to switch to Hurts.
Carson Wentz has been one of the worst quarterbacks in football this season, and he wants his Philadelphia Eagles teammates to know he is well aware of that.
Eagles head coach Doug Pederson told reporters on Friday that Wentz stood up in front of the team this week to take accountability for his poor play. Pederson said Wentz was one of several players who acknowledged they need to do a better job moving forward.
“He understands that he needs to play better. For him to stand up and take ownership there with the team, it really, quite frankly, showed vulnerability,” Pederson said, via ESPN’s Tim McManus. “I think it’s a sign of growth in any player. We’ve had several players do that this week. … It just shows that our young players — and I still consider Carson in that young (category) — are showing signs of maturity and growth and leadership ability, especially from your quarterback.”
Pederson has had to answer questions about making a quarterback change seemingly all season, but he remains committed to Wentz. Not giving rookie Jalen Hurts a shot to start is getting harder to justify by the week, however.
Wentz has thrown 16 touchdown passes compared to 15 interceptions and has a passer rating of 73.4, which places him among the bottom three quarterbacks in the NFL. Despite that, the NFC East has been so bad that the Eagles remain in the hunt at 3-7-1.
We recently learned some new information about why Wentz may be struggling this season, and it’s nice to see him take responsibility in front of the team. Of course, that will only take him so far. The Eagles aren’t paying Wentz more than $30 million per year to hold himself accountable for consistently poor play.
