After an unsuccessful attempt at trading for Russell Wilson, the Washington Commanders pivoted Wednesday to Carson Wentz, sending two third-round picks and agreeing to the Indianapolis Colts and agreeing to take on the quarterback's $28 million salary in 2022.
Wilson may have been Washington's first choice, but certainly Martin Mayhew and Ron Rivera traded for Wentz with the thought that he would improve their chances of making a postseason run in 2022. And yet, Washington's Super Bowl odds got longer after trading for Wentz:
Regardless of where you stand on Wentz, most would pick him over Taylor Heinicke, so why did landing him decrease the team's Super Bowl odds? Clearly, oddsmakers had accounted for the fact that the Commanders could make a massive upgrade at quarterback.
Even with Wilson and Aaron Rodgers off the board, Deshaun Watson theoretically still could have been an option. Wentz may be an upgrade over Heinicke, but he feels like an underwhelming addition when compared to some of the other quarterbacks that we entered the offseason thinking could be had.
While Wentz will leave behind last year's rushing champion Jonathan Taylor in Indianapolis, he does head to a Washington team with a ton of talent. Chase Young, Jonathan Allen and Montez Sweat are among the difference-makers on defense. Antonio Gibson is one of the most underrated running backs in the league. Terry McLaurin -- who has 3,090 receiving yards in three NFL seasons -- will be the best wide receiver Wentz has ever had at his disposal.
Both the Dallas Cowboys and Wentz's former team, the Philadelphia Eagles, were playoff teams a year ago, but the NFC East is hardly a loaded division. Wentz has a chance to prove a lot of people wrong by leading the Commanders to a division title, and perhaps beyond. And he better make the best of it, because this is almost certainly the final chance that the 29-year-old will get to be a starting quarterback in the NFL.
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