Peter King is widely viewed as one of the greatest NFL writers of all time, in large part because of his attention to detail and willingness to do deep dives on the most pressing topics in the sport.
But every once in a while, everyone has a take that they have to get off.
In his "Football Morning in America" column Monday, King examined the downfall of Carson Wentz, who was released by the Washington Commanders last week. The full piece is worth your time, but he used his kicker to share a strong opinion on Wentz:
"Even though Wentz was on his way to a great season before injuring his knee in 2017, he could never repeat it and in fact regressed. I’d argue that no player in NFL history has cost so much and delivered so little."
Regardless of how you feel about Wentz now, there's no debating just how good he was in 2017. In his second NFL season, Wentz set a Philadelphia Eagles franchise single-season record with 33 touchdown passes, en route to finishing third in MVP voting. This was despite, of course, suffering a season-ending torn ACL in Week 14.
While we'll never know if Wentz would have helped lead the Eagles to their first Super Bowl title like Nick Foles did, what we do know is that the team was 11-2 in games he started that season and well on their way to a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs. Given that Foles has also turned into a journeyman since the 2017 season, it's fair to wonder if the Eagles would have been in position to win a Super Bowl if Wentz hadn't played at all that season. And therefore, the Eagles probably wouldn't undo trading up to the No. 2 pick to select Wentz in the 2016 NFL Draft.
However, Howie Roseman and the Eagles lived to regret the four-year/$128 million extension that they signed Wentz to in June of 2019, a pact that guaranteed the quarterback more than $100 million.
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Chris Ballard and the Indianapolis Colts certainly would like a mulligan on trading for Wentz prior to the 2021 season, a deal that ultimately cost them both a first and third-round pick.
And it goes without saying that the Commanders didn't enjoy their time with Wentz either.
In terms of the haul the Eagles gave up to get into position to draft Wentz, you could definitely make the case that other franchises have made worse moves -- the New Orleans Saints traded their entire draft for Ricky Williams in 1999, and the Washington franchise ultimately didn't get the desired result from their trade up to select Robert Griffin III in 2012.
But when you factor in that both the Colts and Commanders also surrendered significant draft capital to land Wentz, King may have a point.
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