Eagles will listen to what Carson Wentz says about prospects

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This offseason, Carson Wentz spent time watching wide receiver prospects and even got a chance to work out with a few of them while in California. 

And, at the very least, the Eagles are going to listen to what the quarterback has to say about them. 

"If there's any player on our roster that has insight into a guy in free agency or the draft, it's part of our information gathering," Eagles vice president of football operations Howie Roseman said on Thursday, after his pre-draft press conference. 

"Certainly, it's no different with Carson. If he has insight because he worked out with a particular guy or knows a guy from college, then we want that information. But that's not unusual just to him." 

While Roseman and head coach Doug Pederson met with Wentz at the end of the 2016 season and talked about the offseason plan, they weren't able to talk football with their young quarterback again until earlier this week, when the offseason program began on Monday.

In the few months between, Wentz worked out in California with several draft prospects, including Cooper Kupp, Chad Hansen, Mack Hollins and JuJu Smith-Schuster. For the most part, these workouts were organized by Wentz's agency, Rep1 Sports. Wentz said that was the only reason those guys were the ones with whom he worked out, and Roseman on Thursday was quick to point out that the Eagles had no control over what Wentz did. 

But if the quarterback came back to the building with some intel, Roseman, Joe Douglas and the Eagles weren't going to turn away their franchise quarterback. 

"I don't think it hurts if any players are working with guys and giving us insight," Roseman said. "'Hey, I was training with this guy, this is how he works, this is what he looks like.' That's great insight. We get that not only from our players but our staff if they've been with guys in college or been with guys on other teams."

While Roseman said the team will listen to any player who has insight on other players, it seems more likely the Eagles would be willing to listen to their franchise quarterback. After all, they spent a great deal of their offseason surrounding him with more talent and worrying about building the team around him for the future. 

On Monday, Wentz was asked if he thought the Eagles would ask him about the guys he worked out with. He said, "We'll see." 

While the Eagles added Alshon Jeffery and Torrey Smith this offseason, Jeffery came on a one-year deal and Smith's deal is for three years, but with just one guaranteed. The Eagles didn't necessarily lock up Wentz's weapons for the long term. 

So it would make plenty of sense for the Eagles to draft a wideout at some point next week. 

"When we talked to [Wentz] at the end of the year," Roseman said, "what we said and what I think I said publicly was, 'It would be great if you were going to some of these running back and receiver workouts and you could take your quarterback, because you could see the timing.'"

Because of league rules, the Eagles weren't able to take Wentz with them to work out certain prospects, but the franchise quarterback still spent time over the last few months thinking about draftable receivers and gaining information to deliver back to the team. 

"I think there's a lot of talented receivers that could help," Wentz said on Monday, "but I don't really know where it's going to go and I don't really have an input either."

But the Eagles are at least willing to listen. 

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