Carson Wentz details Eagles' benching, trade to Colts

It has been almost a year since they traded him, but the Eagles are still tied to Carson Wentz. The Eagles hold a dead cap hit from the move through next season while owning the Colts’ draft pick tied to his snap total. The selection is very close to conveying, which will be a massive boost to their capital.

Recently, Zak Keefer of The Athletic did a deep dive into Carson Wentz’s departure and tenure with the Indianapolis Colts. During the article, we were provided some fascinating insight into what exactly went down from Wentz himself.

All Wentz was told when he was first benched was that Hurts would be going in. While we thought it was temporary, the former Eagles QB realized it might be the end of his time here.

“Is it for this drive?” he asked himself on the sideline. “For this game? For this season? For good?”

“You sign that kind of contract,” Wentz says of the $128 million deal he’d been awarded 18 months prior, “and you tell yourself this is gonna be home for a while. But standing on that sideline at Lambeau Field, he started to. Maybe this isn’t it, he thought to himself. Maybe he wanted out.”

Eventually, only two teams remained in the hunt for the disgruntled quarterback, the Colts and the Bears. But even with Indy, it doesn’t appear that Wentz was their first choice initially. Colts general manager Chris Ballard looked at numerous quarterbacks before inquiring about Carson Wentz.

“He put a bid in on Matthew Stafford. Wasn’t enough.

He checked on Derek Carr. Wasn’t available.

He evaluated Sam Darnold. Wasn’t sold.”

Eventually, after learning he was more available than expected combined with Frank Reich’s insistence, the Colts acquired Carson Wentz from the Eagles. I know everyone is sick of hearing about Wentz since he’s gone, but it’s always interesting to hear what happens in a player’s head when these situations occur.

Currently, Carson Wentz has played 70% of his expected snaps this season. If he plays 75%, the Colts send their first-round pick to the Eagles or 70%, and they make the playoffs.