If there was any doubt that Carson Wentz was QB1 in DC, the incumbent starter in the “competition” has shot down any notion that he’s the guy.
“I don’t think that’s an option,” Taylor Heinicke said at Commanders minicamp Wednesday, when asked if he thought he had any chance to show that he deserves to be the starting quarterback.
Heinicke signed to the then-WFT practice squad in December 2020, but ended up starting their lone playoff game after Alex Smith was injured and Dwayne Haskins was benched and released. He then became the WFT starter in 2021, throwing for 3,019 yards and 20 touchdowns in 16 games for a team that finished 7-10.
However, the Commanders traded for Wentz this offseason, and while he has an opt-out after this season, his cap hit is indeed $28.3 million, and Wentz could be owed almost $82 million real money through 2024. And that, Heinicke knows, is going to take precedence more often than not.
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“You look at the NFL, and at the end of the day it’s a business. If you’re paying one guy $30 million and someone else $2 million, you’re paying this guy $30 million to play,” Heinecke said. “Carson’s a great quarterback, and you see it through OTAs and minicamp, and I hope he goes out there and succeeds.”
If Wentz ends up hurt or in Ron Rivera’s doghouse, though, Heinicke is ready to step on.
“My job is to back him up and help him out any way I can, and if for some reason he goes down, I’m ready to play,” Heinicke said. “That’s how I look at it. The NFL is a business, and you’re paying a guy a lot of money, so you’re paying him for a reason: to play.”
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