Getty The Eagles might have a lingering quarterback debate between Carson Wentz and Jalen Hurts heading into the offseason.
The main reason for Carson Wentz asking for a “change of scenery” seemed to stem from the Philadelphia Eagles drafting Jalen Hurts. That was the day jealousy and mistrust set in for the one-time franchise quarterback, per multiple reports.
Wentz has never publicly stated why he wanted out of town. He probably never will. And Eagles general manager Howie Roseman has remained tight-lippped about the semi-messy divorce, calling Wentz’s trade to the Indianapolis Colts a “win-win” for both sides. Earlier this week, Colts head coach Frank Reich chimed in with his opinion on how things went down. Reich doesn’t think Hurts had anything to do with it.
“I don’t think that’s the case,” Reich told the Rich Eison Show on Westwood One, via NBC Sports Philadelphia. “That’s how I feel about it, that’s my opinion. I don’t think the drafting of another player sent Carson into a tailspin.”
Philadelphia has agreed to trade Carson Wentz to the Indianapolis Colts in exchange for a 2021 third-round pick and a conditional 2022 second-round pick that could turn into a first, league sources tell @mortreport and me.
Wentz has taken the brunt of the blame for the way things ended in Philly, as well as for a historic regression by Doug Pederson’s offense in 2020. Both the quarterback and head coach have moved on, while the Eagles went into rebuild mode.
“Carson took his share of being the focal point of the blame and that’s part of the process of being a quarterback in this league,” Reich said. “And you’ve got to be a big boy and be able to take it. But now it’s an opportunity to hit the reset button and it’s an opportunity for the Eagles to set the reset button.”
“It’s time to hit the reset button and go back to the basics.”
After @Colts head coach Frank Reich rejected the widely held notion he’s the Carson Wentz Whisperer, he told us how it’s going to work with his new QB:
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Colts Draft Texas Quarterback in Sixth Round
Will the scenario repeat itself in Indianapolis? Wentz has already been named the Colts’ undisputed starter for Week 1, but the team invested a sixth-round pick in former Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger last weekend. The pick was made for depth as Ehlinger will compete against 2020 fourth-rounder Jacob Eason for the backup role. However, Wentz now has two young players breathing down his neck after a full year of showing he couldn’t handle the competition.
“Every year there is some different form of adversity and I’m always trying to learn from it,” Wentz told reporters last November. “And learn from each experience and become a better player, become a better man, and handle these things to the best of my ability. But I’m not perfect by any means … it’s up to the person. How are you going to handle the adversity? Is it going to be to your detriment? Or is something positive going to come out of it?”
New threads. Same journey. #AO1
Eagles GM Explains Why He Didn’t Draft QB
There had been a lot of talk about the Eagles drafting a quarterback in the first round. It never materialized. Roseman traded down from No. 6 to No. 12 and then traded back up to No. 10 to take a wide receiver. But five quarterbacks did get selected in the top-15 picks. None of them were on Roseman’s draft board.
“We try to target guys that we felt like could make a huge difference in our football team as players and people. We had a list of those guys,” Roseman told reporters. “We felt like although there were opportunities to maybe stay at our spot or move back, we just felt like as we started this program with the people that we started with, we wanted to get a difference-maker. I think this was about the effect that we thought the players that we drafted had and not really a judgment on some of the other players that we didn’t take.”
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