Carson Wentz’s contract would be a nightmare for Colts to absorb

The Colts better not think about trading for Carson Wentz and his bloated contract.

The biggest question that will surround the Indianapolis Colts this offseason is how they plan address their quarterback vacancy. However, the decision will be a lot more complicated than just signing or trading for somebody to fill the void.

After all, this team has all the requisite pieces in place to compete for a championship and making the right choice at quarterback will go a long way in determining their ceiling. Unfortunately for Indianapolis, there currently doesn’t project to be an abundance of options to choose from.

This has led to analysts and pundits linking them with Eagles gunslinger Carson Wentz, who was benched this past weekend and has officially lost his starting job (for the time being) to rookie backup Jalen Hurts.

While we understand why the Colts are being tabbed as an offseason destination for Wentz, his inflated contract, which looks so much worse given how awful he’s performed this year, should make this an easy decision for GM Chris Ballard.

Look, we get it: Colts head coach Frank Reich was the offensive coordinator in Philadelphia for the first two seasons of Wentz’s career, including 2017 when he was largely considered the MVP favorite before going down with a torn ACL in mid-December.

Reich could very easily be the guy to help Wentz turn his career around. However, his contract makes it a totally unnecessary risk, especially if more intriguing alternative options become available between now and the start of the offseason.

The Eagles handed Wentz a four-year, $128 million extension in 2019, meaning that the big money doesn’t really even kick in until next season, when he’ll pocket a $15.4 million salary and account for a $34.6 million cap hit and $59 million (!) in dead cap.

The deal has a potential out after 2021, but there’s no way Wentz turns down the guarantees Philadelphia impulsively handed him on a silver platter. What that in mind, let’s take a closer look at the remaining three years of his deal.

• 2022: $22 million salary and a $31.27 million cap hit
• 2023: $20 million salary and a $36.27 million cap hit
• 2024: $21 million salary and a $32 million cap hit

Those numbers become even more nauseating when you take into account that the deal comes with a combined $45 million in dead cap during that stretch, including $39.81 million between 2022 and 2023.

Absorbing this financial burden, regardless of Reich’s ties to Wentz, would prove to be a disaster for the Colts in no time. For the season, the former No. 2 overall pick ranks 31st in in the NFL in passer rating (72.8), yards per attempt (6.0) and fumbles (10), and 32nd in completion percentage (57.4%) and interceptions (15).

Wentz is beyond broken, and voluntarily taking on his bloated contract while unloading assets to acquire him in the process just to see if Reich is capable of fixing him would prove to be a categorial nightmare for the Colts.

There’s simply too much at stake here to even consider trading for him.

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