It was obvious entering this offseason the Washington Commanders needed a quarterback with a better arm and more experience leading an NFL offense after another season of below-average play from a trio of Washington quarterbacks.
Just as it was obvious last offseason when the team signed veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick to a one-year deal after a season of below-average play from a trio of Washington quarterbacks.
And it was obvious the Indianapolis Colts were not pleased with quarterback Carson Wentz after their playoff hopes were dashed following back-to-back defeats to close the 2021 season, including a 26-11 humiliation at the hands of the lowly Jacksonville Jaguars in the season finale.
A few weeks after sending Wentz to Washington, Indianapolis owner Jim Irsay explained just how simple it was for the Colts to come to a decision.
“It’s just, for us, it was something we had to move away from as a franchise. It was very obvious," Irsay told the media Tuesday at the NFL Owners’ meetings
The reason? That loss to the Jaguars.
“No disrespect to Jacksonville, but I mean, they’re the worst team in the league,” Irsay said. “I mean, if you play well for the first quarter, you know, they’re [probably] looking to go to the locker room, you know?
“I can’t emphasize how shocked and disappointed [I was],” he said. “I don’t have the words to describe the level of that letdown … I mean, I’ve never seen it in my life.”
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Irsay, obviously, began searching for answers after his team's shock defeat to the worst team in football and came to believe the loss, in his words, "wasn't an accident."
“You search for the right chemistry with any team,” Irsay said, via The Athletic. “Football is as important as any sport there is. If that chemistry is off, if it isn’t there, it can be extremely detrimental and lower performance to a degree that is stunning, you know, and shocking.”
The owner's obvious conclusion was this: “Oh my God, there’s something wrong here … and it needs to be corrected.”
Irsay would go on to clarify that Wentz isn’t “the scapegoat” and that the Commanders’ new QB is “a good man, a good father and a guy who put a lot of effort into the year and worked really hard and wanted to have success.”
But, “It just didn’t work out. And sometimes you feel like you have to move on because you can’t always persuade people to do things differently if they don’t want to do them differently.”
Obviously, Irsay is saying a lot by leaving a great deal unsaid.
For Indianapolis to dump Wentz just a year after acquiring him from the Philadelphia Eagles, a failed reunion with Frank Reich was surprising, but not shocking amid an NFL offseason of truly shocking transactions, retirements, and un-retirements.
But for the Colts to be able to nab two third-round draft picks from Washington for a quarterback they wanted to get rid of was surprising. Obviously.
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