The Eagles and Eagles fans will be watching Carson Wentz closely in 2021 for more reasons than the obvious intrigue about how his second chance in the NFL will go.
The rooting interest is for Wentz to play enough in 2021 to turn that conditional second-round pick next year into a first-rounder.
And it sounds like things are going pretty well for Wentz a few months after the Eagles shipped him to Indianapolis for a reunion with former Eagles OC and Colts head coach Frank Reich. In Monday Morning Quarterback, Albert Breer dove into the Wentz situation and gave an update on that reunion.
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Wentz seems pretty happy.
“You try to not think too much about that, you try to live in the moment, live in the present,” Wentz said to MMQB about potentially quarterbacking a contending team. “But like you said, when you look around and see not just the talent, but the young talent. And then you combine that young talent with what we just talked about, a lot of good dudes, a lot of not just good players, but good people? It’s exciting. Don’t get me wrong, it’s exciting. There’s something special brewing here.”
As a reminder, the Eagles traded Wentz to Indy back in February for a 2021 third-round pick (used in the trade-up to get DeVonta Smith) and a 2022 conditional second-round pick. That second-round pick will turn into a first if at least one of these two things happen:
1. Wentz plays at least 75% of the Colts’ offensive snaps
NFL
2. Wentz plays at least 70% of the Colts’ offensive snaps and the Colts the playoffs
So the best case scenario for the Eagles is that Wentz stays healthy, plays well enough to be on the field but the Colts aren’t very good. That seems possible but not entirely likely.
Breer’s dive into the Wentz situation in Indy is worth a read but there are a few interesting notes to take out of it:
• Wentz is apparently feeling very comfortable in Indianapolis as it pertains to his standing as the starting quarterback … not a savior. One of the obvious reasons his season spiraled in 2020 was because he was trying to do too much in Philly. Then again, there was acknowledgement of that with the Eagles too and it was never corrected. Perhaps the pressure of being the No. 2 overall pick and everything else that happened during his five years here as the franchise QB was too much to get over.
• Breer wrote that Wentz stuck around after the Colts dismissed their veterans this spring and continued to work with some of his receivers. In addition, Wentz is working with private QB coach Adam Dedeaux again this offseason. Aside from mental mistakes, Wentz also began to struggle with some mechanical issues in 2020.
• Wentz is planning on hosting some of his teammates in Houston at his offseason home this summer, a practice he’s continuing from his days in Philly. Last year, he and Jalen Hurts were both in the Houston area around the same time working out with teammates, something that seems even more awkward now in hindsight than it did back then.
• We’ll see what happens if/when Wentz finds adversity in Indianapolis, but it legitimately seems like he’s in a pretty good place mentally as he gets a fresh start. He talked to MMQB about seeing a bigger picture beyond football.
“Being a quarterback, being a football player, is not truly my identity, it’s not what I put everything in my value into,” Wentz said. “It’s harder to do that when you’re younger, trying to make a name for yourself. But as a man of faith, this is my job, my occupation, something I love to do. It’s not my identity, it’s not my whole value, it’s not my whole life.”
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