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Everyone is assuming that the Philadelphia Eagles will trade Carson Wentz to the Indianapolis Colts. That the happy reunion between Wentz and his former offensive coordinator, Frank Reich, is a foregone conclusion. It’s not, as Reich hinted at in a recent interview.
The Colts head coach has continued to hype up his current quarterback, Philip Rivers, who is on a one-year, $25 million deal in Indianapolis. The eight-time Pro Bowler has thrown for 3,507 yards and 20 touchdowns with just nine interceptions. While Rivers hasn’t yet made a decision if he wants to return for what would be his 18th NFL season, Reich sounded enthusiastic about the idea.
“At the way he’s playing right now … if he wants, he has multiple years of good football ahead of him,” Reich told reporters, via ESPN.
Remember, Reich spent three years coaching Rivers on the San Diego Chargers from 2013-15. He was instrumental in getting Rivers to join the Colts this past offseason and the move has paid off. Indianapolis currently holds the sixth seed in the AFC playoff race.
“Never been a doubt in my mind the kind of football Philip Rivers could play and would play this year and has played,” Reich said. “Had that much confidence in him, so it wasn’t a hard decision.”
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Wentz Trade to Indianapolis Put on Hold?
Reich’s comments regarding Rivers would seem to put trade talks for Wentz on hold. Well, maybe. It’s complicated. Rivers just turned 39 years old on Dec. 8 and has to want to come back next year.
And the idea of adding a 27-year-old quarterback with inside knowledge of your offense has to be incredibly tempting to Reich. Wentz threw for 7,078 yards and 49 touchdowns (21 interceptions) in 29 games under Reich’s watchful eye. His 2017 MVP campaign was a stroke of coaching genius.
There have been several reports linking Wentz to Indianapolis in a trade, including one from NBC Sports’ Peter King. The long-time NFL reporter caleld the Colts the “most logical suitor” in his weekly “Football Morning in America” column. Duh.
Makes total sense. Wentz reunites with former Eagles offensive coordinator Frank Reich, the ultimate patient and calm teacher, and the Wentz mental makeover happens in the decidedly low-pressure-cooker of central Indiana. There’s no WIP there. GM Chris Ballard never met a big deal he was afraid to make. But—and this is a very big but—the Eagles most assuredly have not decided to deal Wentz. As of this morning, I bet the majority of their top people think he’ll be back in 2021. But if Hurts has three more games like Sunday’s? We’ll see.
Of course, those rumors are nothing new. We’ve written about them in this space before and they will continue to surface as long as Jalen Hurts plays well. The “spark” that head coach Doug Pederson was hoping for when he made the quarterback change is lit.
“I’m hoping the spark is a little bit brighter and more of a flame now and obviously coming off a win, we’ve got to continue to play well,” Pederson said. “He gave us the spark that I was looking for obviously and I think the team was looking for and we’ve got to do it again.”
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