Sometime during the 2022 regular season, the Washington Commanders will visit the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium. And one of the quarterbacks on the gridiron will be Carson Wentz, wearing a brand-new burgundy uniform.
Washington has agreed to send two third-round draft picks (one conditional) to Indianapolis in exchange for the 29-year-old, and they're also assuming all of his remaining salary. Wentz's total cap hit is $28 million next season, and if the Commanders want to move on from him after 2022, they could without a dead cap hit. The final two years of his deal don't include guaranteed money.
"To take on $28 million next year and give up two third-round picks -- one of which can become a second-round draft pick -- it's just a ridiculous decision by Washington," The Athletic writer Sheil Kapadia told the Maggie and Perloff show on Thursday. "I know they were desperate. And I know these teams get impatient and say, 'We've got to do something, we're so tired of not having a quarterback,' that you talk yourselves into stuff.
"But, if you look around the league right now, there aren't many QB situations that are complete disasters. You can find guys who're competent, who can be okay, get you to 9-8 and win a playoff game, without giving up those types of assets... Teams, I know they don't want to be patient, and I know job security is on the line for these coaches and these general managers. But sometimes, you just have to kind of accumulate assets, and wait and wait and wait..."
In his lone season with Indianapolis, Wentz played a career-high 17 games and threw for 3,563 yards with 27 touchdowns and seven interceptions. But these stats couldn't shroud his mediocre play for most of the year. With an AFC wild-card berth on the line in Week 18, Wentz threw for just 185 yards with a career-low 4.4 QBR in an upset loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. The ghastly showing eliminated the Colts from playoff contention.
Prior to completing the deal for Wentz, the Commanders expressed legitimate interest in acquiring Russell Wilson from the Seattle Seahawks. According to a recent report from ESPN, Washington offered multiple first-round picks for the veteran quarterback, but negotiations went nowhere and Seattle shipped him to the Denver Broncos instead. The Commanders have the third-best odds to win the NFC East next season, according to the William Hill Sportsbook.
The entire NFL conversation between Kapadia and Maggie and Perloff can be accessed in the audio player above.
You can follow the Maggie and Perloff Show on Twitter @MaggieandPerl and Tom Hanslin @TomHanslin.