The QB trade market is pitching everyone into a feeding frenzy.
With Derek Carr and Geno Smith off the market, people are dreaming up scenarios about the next dominos to fall, the trail from which eventually leads down to Carson Wentz, who was released last week by the Commanders.
Already this week, Peter King has argued that "no player in NFL history" has cost as much as Wentz and "delivered so little."
Now Greg Cosell has entered the chat. The famed NFL Films analyst delivered this scorcher on the Ross Tucker Football Podcast.
"You know, my sense is — and I had this conversation with a coach — that Carson Wentz's career might be over," Cosell said. "Because he's not going to be signed as a starting quarterback. The feeling is that he does not really have the mindset to be a backup. You always hear coaches, Ross, and you know this from playing, you always hear coaches talk about the room with every position. We want our room to be good. There's a belief that Carson Wentz does not enhance a quarterback room, for whatever reason. I don't get into the personal stuff and all of that. But it's very possible that his career could be over."
Eric Bickel of The Sports Junkies was none too pleased about this.
He expounded this idea Monday morning, saying, "I hesitate to bring it up on the air because people have like this irrational, it's almost like a political response when you talk about Wentz. Everyone here hates him. Okay, I get it."
"So, as soon as I saw that. Listen, I know everyone hates him and everyone says he'll never start again. You're probably right," he said. "The idea that 2023 version of Wentz — I'm just defending the guy as a human — is bad in the quarterback room. Listen, I haven't been in the room with him..."
"He didn't say he was bad," said Junkies co-host JP Flaim. "He said he didn't enhance the quarterback room."
"Okay, right," said Bickel. "Ask Taylor Heinicke. Every time Carson Instagrams something, he puts 'love you, bro.' I mean it's impossible. Ask Ron Rivera if Carson Wentz was anything but a positive in the room. It's just, it's an old lazy narrative."
"You love to do the bit that everybody's lying," John Auville prodded. "What if Ron and Taylor and everybody else that came in contact with Carson, he's just a bad guy and they're just covering for him?"
"Why doesn't Ron want him back then?" Flaim asked.
"Because he sucked. Because he sucked," Bickel said.
"He could be a backup QB if he enhances the room," Flaim said.
"No, no, because he sucked and he needs to go somewhere else," Bickel conceded. "I'm not even lobbying for him to be here. He needs to go somewhere else. And he will."
"Do you think the coach was lying to Greg Cosell, the anonymous coach," Flaim asked.
"The anonymous coach just said something about..." Bickel said trailing off.
"He doesn't enhance the quarterback room," Flaim said.
"Right. That's an old narrative from the Philly days," Bickel said. "I'm just telling you it's wrong and I'll go to my grave knowing I'm right. I've talked to — I don't want to get too specific — but I've talked to a guy who said 'the guys LOVE him.' A guy on the team. Now was he lying to me? I don't think so. He said it to me off-air."
"So, I just know the idea that the 2023 version of Wentz is a net-negative in the room is FAKE. And so it's a lazy narrative and it's just annoying," he said. "Does he suck? Sure. You can say he sucks. You can say he's the worst ever and you don't ever hear him come out of my mouth again. FINE. I'm gonna defend his character."
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