Eagles still have Hurts, No. 6 pick in first round
Carson Wentz, the Eagles’ starting quarterback for the last five seasons, will be traded to the Indianapolis Colts for a third-round draft pick in 2021 and a conditional draft pick in 2022, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Chris Mortensen.
The 2022 pick, which is a second-rounder, can become a first-rounder if Wentz’s playing time is at or above 75% next season, or if he plays at least 70% of the snaps and the Colts make the playoffs, according to Schefter.
The trade reunites Wentz with his first offensive coordinator, Colts head coach Frank Reich, who helped develop Wentz into an elite quarterback before departing to take the Colts job in 2018, immediately after the Eagles won the Super Bowl.
It also means that every quarterback drafted in the first round from 2009 through 2016 is no longer with his original team, according to ESPN’s Field Yates.
Second-year player Jalen Hurts, a surprise second-round draft pick in 2020, thus becomes the Eagles’ starter, if only for the time being. The Eagles own the No. 6 pick in
this year’s NFL draft and could pick another quarterback.
At least they no longer have someone who didn’t want to be in Philadelphia anymore after Wentz’s relationship with the team turned contentious last season. He not only produced his worst season before being benched, but coach Doug Pederson and most of his staff were fired after just four wins in 2020.
The Eagles will absorb the largest dead-cap charge ($34 million) in NFL history as a result. But they won’t have to pay Wentz’s $10 million roster bonus due on March 19 and will not have his salary on the books after 2021.
Wentzhadsignedafour-year, $128 million contract extension in 2019 that doesn’t kick in until this coming season. That should provide the Colts with some security for the most important position in sports.
Wentz became a draft target of Eagles general manager Howie Roseman shortly after Roseman was handed back control of the football operations following the dismissal of head coach Chip Kelly with one game remaining in the 2015 season.
Roseman then made a series of trades, putting the Eagles in position to make the ultimate trade with Cleveland to move all the way up to the No. 2 overall spot in the 2016 draft. The Eagles sent the Browns their 2016-firstround pick (No. 8 overall), their third- and fourth-round picks in 2016, a 2017 first-rounder and a 2018 second-rounder in exchange for the Browns’ firstround pick in 2016 and fourthround pick in 2017.
After selecting Wentz out of North Dakota State, the plan was to have him be the No. 3 quarterback for his rookie season, behind starter Sam Bradford and veteran backup Chase Daniel.
But when the Minnesota Vikings lost starter Teddy Bridgewater to a gruesome leg injury in the preseason, the Eagles agreed to send them Bradford in a trade that netted the Eagles a first-round pick in 2017 and a conditional pick the following year. Then they elevated Wentz to the starting role, ahead of Daniel.
Wentz started out on fire as a rookie, winning his first three games, including a blowout over the Pittsburgh Steelers. But a 10-game suspension for right tackle Lane Johnson and the loss of other key offensive linemen to injuries contributed to a rough first season in which Wentz went 7-9 with almost as many interceptions (14) as touchdown passes (16).
Wentz and the Eagles seemingly put everything together the following season, in which he was widely considered the front-runner for the NFL MVP Award before suffering a season-ending knee injury in a December victory over the Los Angeles Rams. His season was over after completing 265 of 440 attempts for 3,296 yards and 33 TD passes against just seven interceptions. His 7.5 touchdown percentage led the league.
Nick Foles stepped in and famously led the Eagles to their only Super Bowl championship.
A broken bone in his back ended Wentz’s 2018 season prematurely as well. Foles again stepped in and not only led the Eagles to the playoffs but a victory over the Chicago Bears in the wild-card round and a near-miss against New Orleans in the divisional round a week later. A pass went through Alshon Jeffery’s hands deep in Saints territory and into those of cornerback Marshon Lattimore’s for an interception that sealed a 20-14 win for New Orleans.
Although Wentz did not miss any games in 2019, which was marked by Foles leaving for Jacksonville in the offseason, Wentz was knocked out of the Eagles’ wild-card-round playoff game against Seattle early with a concussion on a helmet shot by Jadeveon Clowney.
Wentz’s play deteriorated so badly in 2020, following an offseason in which no offseason camps were permitted and no preseason games played, that he lost his starting job.
With a roster decimated by multiple injuries to offensive linemen, wide receivers, tight ends and running backs, Wentz struggled with both decision-making and mechanics. He finished with NFL highs of 15 interceptions and 50 sacks despite being limited to 12 games.
Wentz reportedly lost confidence in the play-calling ability of Pederson, leading to a rift and the eventual trade request by Wentz, who did not change his mind even after Pederson was fired.
Perhaps that was because Wentz sensed how well the team responded to Hurts during the final four games.
But the offense proved to be no more effective under Hurts than it was under Wentz. The Eagles still had problems scoring and lost three of Hurts’ four starts as well.
Hurts does offer a more explosive upside, however. He showed in his limited time how much offense he can create with his legs and his powerful right arm, which was a question mark in college when he lost his starting job at Alabama and transferred to Oklahoma to resurrect his career.
Hurts did more than that. As a senior with the Sooners in 2019, he completed 69.7% of his passes for 3,851 yards and 32 TD passes. He was intercepted just eight times.
Hurts added more than 1,200 rushing yards and ran for 20 more TDs while averaging 5.6 yards per attempt. He finished second to LSU quarterback Joe Burrow in the Heisman Trophy vote.
After dazzling scouts, coaches and administrators at the NFL scouting combine last year, Hurts raised his perception as a middle-round prospect to someone who could be off the board early in the second day of the draft.
That’s exactly what happened when the Eagles stunned most observers by selecting him with the 53rd overall pick.
In his four starts, Hurts had a lower completion percentage (52) than Wentz, with interception (four) and sack totals (13) that projected to be worse than what Wentz endured over his 12 games.