Week 18 will almost certainly be Carson Wentz's final game as a member of the Washington Commanders. And it's fair to wonder whether the former No. 2 overall pick has a future in the sport at all.
Ron Rivera and the Commanders reinserted Wentz as the starting quarterback for a Week 17 tilt against the Cleveland Browns, clinging onto playoff hopes with two games to play.
Wentz completed just 16 of 28 pass attempts and throw three interceptions in a 24-10 Cleveland win that eliminated the Commanders from the playoff race. As for Sunday's season finale with the Dallas Cowboys, fifth-round pick Sam Howell will start, with Taylor Heinicke backing him up. And Wentz is already out of the picture.
Until Daniel Snyder sells the team, Washington will likely have a hell of a time convincing any veteran quarterback with options to join. But even with that fact, Rivera and general manager Martin Mayhew will arrive at the easy decision this offseason to release Wentz, whose deal has two years remaining but zero guaranteed money left.
Now 30, Wentz will be looking for his fourth team in as many seasons this offseason. This time around, he has almost no chance to get a starting job. If Tom Brady decides to continue playing, he'll be a free agent. It appears that Derek Carr, Baker Mayfield and Jimmy Garoppolo will be other veteran free-agent options who are clearly superior starting options to Wentz.
It's unlikely he'll even have the chance to sign a deal like Mitch Trubisky did last offseason, where he could be the Week 1 starter even if it eventually becomes clear that he's just keeping the seat room for a rookie.
And this offseason won't be short on backup options, as the aforementioned Heinicke, Andy Dalton, Teddy Bridgewater, Gardner Minshew, Jameis Winston, Case Keenum, Jarrett Stidham, Marcus Mariota, Geno Smith, Jacoby Brissett, Cooper Rush, Mike White and Joe Flacco can all become free agents this offseason.
Wentz tore both his ACL and LCL in his left knee in Dec. 2017, ending his NFL MVP candidacy and opening the door for Nick Foles to eventually lead the Philadelphia Eagles to their first Super Bowl title less than two months later. Wentz would miss the end of the 2018 season as well, after fracturing a vertebra in his back. There's no question that Wentz's physical ability has declined because of these two injuries, among others.
And given that he doesn't have a reputation as someone that teammates necessarily rally around, his future in the NFL -- if he even wants to have one -- is murky.
So much time has been dedicated to talking about how Foles has had one of the strangest careers in NFL history. As it turns out, so has Wentz, and it would be putting it lightly to say he's reached the fork in the road in a career that once felt like it would last 15-20 years.
