For reasons we’ll never understand, the Indianapolis Colts were met with stern criticism when they decided to trade for Carson Wentz. In a vacuum, giving up a third-round pick and a conditional second-rounder is hardly a steep price to pay for a gunslinger with incredible upside.
For those who need a reminder, Wentz was the MVP frontrunner back in 2017 before a late-season knee injury derailed his chances of winning the award. He also led the Eagles to a division title in 2019 despite a rash of injuries to his offensive line and receiving corps.
As if that wasn’t enough to convince you that the Eagles lost this trade, let’s regurgitate the laughable fact that they took a $33.8 million dead cap charge by shipping him out of town.
For context, the Buccaneers were able to retain several members of their core this offseason who were essential to their championship run in 2020, including Lavonte David, Shaq Barrett, Chris Godwin, Rob Gronkowski, Leonard Fournette and Ndamukong Suh.
Care to guess what their combined cap hit for next season is ? According to Spotrac, it sits at $33.25 million, or $600,000 less than what the Eagles absorbed by trading Wentz to the Colts.
The #Buccaneers bring back Chris Godwin, Leonard Fournette, Lavonte David, Shaq Barrett, Rob Gronkowski, & Ndamukong Suh at a projected $33.25M of combined 2021 cap, or $600,000 less than the #Eagles dead cap hit for #Colts QB Carson Wentz.
— Spotrac (@spotrac) March 30, 2021
This cap nugget further proves the Eagles lost the Carson Wentz trade with the Colts.
What more needs to be said? The Eagles were reportedly disgruntled with the haul (or lack thereof) they received in return for their former No. 2 overall pick after they overplayed their hand and disclosed they wanted at least two first-round picks in return for him.
Throw in the fact that Wentz’s dead cap charge is less than what the Buccaneers spent, from a cap perspective, of course, to retain seven of their most important players should have Eagles general manager Howie Roseman terrified to show his face in the city of Philadelphia until the team can prove it’s ready to compete again.
In the simplest of terms, Roseman had better hit on one of these two first-round picks after he shockingly decided to trade back six picks to No. 12 overall and at least one of the two he acquired in the Wentz trade. If he doesn’t, Eagles fans might feel compelled to run him out of town.
Will we see 2017 Carson Wentz now that he's reunited with Frank Reich?#ForTheShoe pic.twitter.com/aBoJj4nwxm
— CBS Sports HQ (@CBSSportsHQ) March 30, 2021
Getting back to the Colts’ side of things, there’s obviously great risk that comes with handing the keys of your offense to a quarterback who seemingly lost all of his confidence before he was benched last season. However, Wentz is entering an incredibly favorable situation in Indianapolis.
Not only is the Colts’ coaching staff better suited for his skillset and personality, but Wentz will have a more reliable offensive line, a better collection of receivers, and a more potent rushing attack to lessen the pressure on him to make big plays.
Again, it remains to be seen if Wentz will be the same quarterback he was before his disaster 2020 campaign. However, barring a continued run of unplayable form, the Colts would be hard-pressed not to come out as winners in this trade, and this telling cap nugget proves that.
Colts: NFL just dealt Indy major roadblock with extra game for 2021
The Indianapolis Colts will welcome Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to Lucas Oil Stadium in 2021 in their 17th game of the season