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I could be wrong
but my gut tells me the Colts trade for Carson Wentz could turn into a steal of biblical proportions.
I know Wentz had a bad season last year, but I still think the guy is really good. A confluence of factors led to this awful season – offensive line and wide receiver injuries, bad play-calling and Wentz himself.
The Philadelphia Eagles agreed to trade Wentz to the Colts for a 2021 third-round pick and a conditional 2022 second-round pick.
Seems low to me. Does one bad season, when a guy played well before that, enough to lead to a fire sale? Not in my opinion, especially since there were so many mitigating factors that led to his brutal campaign.
So should the Jets have put in a bid?
Probably not.
First of all, they don’t want to put in bids for other quarterbacks with Sam Darnold in the building, and have it leaked to NFL media insiders. They might keep Darnold so they don’t want to burn bridges.
Secondly, Wentz in the New York media market is a bad idea.
Wentz got chewed up and spit out in the brutal Philadelphia market.
Indianapolis is perfect for him, Very, very small media market, with just a few beat-writers. It’s a very tame market. There is much less chance of a feeding frenzy.
Wentz was smart to say “no” to Chicago. The Bears were interested in a Wentz trade, but going to Chicago, another huge, vicious market, would have been a mistake for Wentz. Ask Mitch Trubisky or Jay Cutler.
So Indy is perfect for Wentz, a native of Bismarck, North Dakota.
Some people will minimize market fits, but people who do that are making a mistake.
But let me change gears here and get into what I meant by the headline – “Man does he miss the big guy.”
What I’m talking about is Eagles GM Howie Roseman missing Joe Douglas.
Douglas was the Eagles’ VP of Player Personnel from 2016-19. In other words, Douglas was Roseman’s right-hand man.
And since Douglas departure, the player personnel decisions in Philly have gone down hill. The perception around the league is Roseman misses Douglas terribly, and that perception seems spot-on.
This whole Wentz thing was handled terribly, leading to the Eagles bargaining position being in the toilet, where they got very little for the second pick overall in the 2016 draft. The organization totally destroyed their relationship with Wentz.
The selection of Oklahoma QB Jalen Hurts in the second round of the 2020 draft was a dubious move. Not only is Hurts a marginal NFL QB prospect due to issues with accuracy, the pick invited a QB controversy, which is exactly what happened, and Wentz was eventually benched for Hurts. And then in last game of the season, Wentz wasn’t even active, a major slap in the face. The backup was Nate Sudfeld, who was inserted late in the game, now insulting Hurts, and ticking off the Eagles players.
Not only did the Hurts pick, sans Douglas in the war room, make little sense, but the first-round pick, WR Jalen Reagor, was considered a reach. They skipped over LSU WR Justin Jefferson, who starred as a rookie in Minnesota, to Reagor.
As I’ve said many times, Christopher Johnson hiring Douglas in June of 2019 was the best move by the Johnsons during their two decades of ownership.
And not only the hiring of Douglas great for the Jets, but his departure really hurt the Eagles.
February 19, 2021
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