NFL insider says the Eagles are telling head coach candidates they want Carson Wentz back in 2021

When the Philadelphia Eagles hire their new head coach, it’ll be interesting to see what their plan is at the quarterback position.

According to NFL insider Mike Garafolo, the team is letting candidates know about their preference.

“I’ve spoken to a lot of folks in and around this situation. And there’s a lot of factors at playing here and it’s obviously going to depend who the next head coach is. And right now, this was the point at which they were supposed to be having conversations with Carson Wentz about how can they bridge this thing and bring him back. But instead, surprise! They’ve got themselves a coaching search going on. And it was a surprise to some of the folks involved in this coaching search. They didn’t expect to be doing it at this point.

So, Wentz kind of on the back burner as far as those conversations to see if they can make this thing work in 2021. But I will tell you this: sources have told me that what the team is telling head coach candidates in interviews is: 1) the head coach will obviously have a big say in how they handle the quarterback position but 2) they do believe in this guy, they want him back.

So if you’re a head coach going into those meetings saying ‘I want Wentz out, and [Jalen] Hurts in,’ I think that’s probably going to hurt your standing in this interview process.”

On one hand, we’ve seen the organization show some level of commitment to Wentz since the season ended. Howie Roseman talked about getting rid of him would be like getting rid of a finger. Jeffrey Lurie talked about how even Hall of Fame caliber quarterbacks like Peyton Manning have had down years. There’s also a report that the Eagles firing Doug Pederson “significantly increases” the chance that Wentz stays in Philly.

On the other hand, we’ve seen the organization not be totally effusive in talking about Wentz. Roseman said trading Wentz is “not anything we are talking about right now.” Lurie referred to Wentz as an “asset” on multiple occasions. There’s also a report that Eagles sources undoubtedly contributed to that paints Wentz in a bad light as an uncoachable player.

Perhaps the Eagles are truly hoping that a new coach will be able to get through to Wentz. Or perhaps the Eagles are leaking their intentions to keep him in an attempt to maintain leverage if/when they try to trade him.

The feeling here is that the Eagles should move on from Wentz and that there’s a reasonable chance it’ll happen. The current dynamic feels untenable and not easily fixed.

We’ll eventually see if the new head coach feels similarly.