There have been a ton of rumors surrounding the Philadelphia Eagles this season and a ton of leaks coming out of the NovaCare Complex. Such is often the case with bad teams, especially bad teams that already had some cause for drama heading into the season. On Sunday morning, a new report from ESPN’s Chris Mortensen indicated that the Carson Wentz-Doug Pederson relationship is “fractured beyond repair” and that Wentz is expected to request a trade in the offseason.
If this sounds surprising, it shouldn’t be. 2020 was a bizarre year, and you could make the argument that no NFL team had a stranger year than the Philadelphia Eagles. From drafting Jalen Hurts in the second round of the NFL Draft to keeping Alshon Jeffery on PUP to playing the Bengals to a tie to the offense appearing broken to the franchise quarterback and former MVP candidate looking like one of the worst quarterbacks in the NFL and getting benched for that rookie quarterback, there is no shortage of storylines.
Should it really surprise anyone that Carson Wentz would want to be traded after how 2020 played out?
It shouldn’t.
Carson Wentz was bad in 2020. I don’t think anyone, even the quarterback himself, would deny that. But he was also set up for failure. And I’m not even talking about the head-scratching decision by Howie Roseman to select Jalen Hurts in the second round of the NFL Draft and the impact that may have had on Wentz. I don’t buy that.
More specifically, I’m talking about the lack of talent on the roster, the insistence on keeping Alshon Jeffery on the active roster for two months while he couldn’t play and then playing him over better and younger options, the decision to ignore the wide receiver position in free agency, incredibly questionable playcalling throughout the year, scapegoating Wentz for the struggles of the offense and the team as a whole, and so much more.
For what it’s worth, we have never actually heard Carson Wentz express any kind of desire to be traded or any frustration with the organization. The Eagles, likewise, have maintained that they are confident in Wentz. Doug Pederson even said this week that he intends to be back in 2021, and fixing Wentz is going to be his focus in the offseason.
There’s even this report from Tom Pelissero and Mike Garafolo on Sunday morning that the Eagles still consider this disaster of a situation salvageable:
So, what now?
There is an old adage in football that says “If you have two quarterbacks, you have none.” Well, the Eagles have two quarterbacks. And they’ve had two quarterbacks since Nick Foles went on that magical playoff run. And because of that Cinderella story with Foles, no position in sports has more intrigue from a fanbase than the backup quarterback position in Philadelphia. You could even argue it goes back further than that, with Randall Cunningham and Ron Jaworski way back in the 80s, Donovan McNabb and Jeff Garcia (and Mike Vick), and then Mike Vick and Nick Foles.
More likely than not, the Eagles are going to have to choose between Carson Wentz and Jalen Hurts. It’s possible that they could bring both back, have a quarterback battle in training camp, and then enter the season with either Wentz or Hurts as the starter and the other as the backup.
This probably wouldn’t be the smartest thing to do. Whoever wins the job will have the other looming, and the public (and possibly even players or coaches inside the building) will be calling for a change at the first sign of trouble. That kind of constant pressure and general awkwardness rarely works out.
And now, there’s this NFL Network report that not only is Carson Wentz expected to request a trade this offseason, but he already has a preferred destination in mind:
Doug Pederson turned to Jalen Hurts to try to save his job in 2020. It now looks like he could have to build his offense around Jalen Hurts if he wants to save his job in 2021.
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Mike Maher is the editor and publisher of The Birds Blitz. Follow him on Twitter @mikeMaher and @TheBirdsBlitz and check out his archive for all of his latest stories about the Eagles and the NFL.
