Carson Wentz cut by Commanders

The Washington Commanders took the L on a trade that was obviously never going to work out for them by officially releasing Carson Wentz on Monday.

This move was expected since Washington stood to clear $26.2 million in cap space (with zero dead money involved) by cutting the “Commanders’” first-ever Week 1 starting quarterback.

It’s only been a downward spiral for Wentz since his disastrous 2020 season.

As recently as early 2021, there was a prevailing sentiment that the Eagles needed to “fix” him. Those heeding the obvious warning signs knew such a turnaround was not likely to happen, though, even though Wentz was reunited with Frank Reich on the Indianapolis Colts.

After an epic collapse to miss the playoffs by losing to the worst team in the NFL for two straight years, the Colts shipped Wentz to Landover, Maryland last year. It was very apparent that the dysfunctional quarterback was not going to be a solution for a dysfunctional franchise.

From March 9, 2022:

My official reaction to this news?

LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

I can’t believe this is happening.

On the very same day that a story emerged further painting Wentz in a bad light, nonetheless!

Everyone knew that Washington was very desperate for quarterback help. They weren’t shy to admit as much publicly. But trading for Wentz is a whole new level of desperation.

He offers more upside than Taylor Heinicke from a physical talent standpoint, to be sure. But is he even definitely better than him at this point? And by a significant margin?

You really weren’t deterred by the Colts being so willing to give up on him just one year after they traded a first-round pick (No. 16 overall) and a third-round pick to get him? You aren’t concerned that Frank Reich, who was Wentz’s biggest remaining backer in the NFL, no longer wanted to work with him?

Amazing.

Washington gets so, SO much wrong both on and off the field. This is just another big, embarrassing mistake for them.

Wentz went 2-5 as a starter for the Commanders — including a Week 3 loss to his former Eagles where he got sacked NINE times — before getting hurt and benched for Taylor Heinicke.

... who then got benched for Wentz out of desperation in Week 17. With the Commanders’ playoff hopes alive, Wentz threw zero touchdowns and three interceptions for a 31.4 passer rating in a home loss to the Cleveland Browns.

That game might go down as Wentz’s last in the NFL.

What’s there left for him to play for? He turns 31 this year. He’s been seriously hurt a ton. He has a wife and kids. He’s already made a ton of money ($128 million from contracts). He has outside interests (literally “outside”). He has a Super Bowl ring (that he didn’t get by playing in the big game itself but still set the Eagles up on a very favorable path).

You could say he doesn’t want to go out on such a low note. But what is the path to things getting better? I guess he could sign as a backup somewhere and try to rehab his stock, not unlike how Mitchell Trubisky did with the Buffalo Bills.

But does he really have it in him to enter a season as a backup? Considering everything we’ve come to learn about his ego, I have my doubts. And even if he was able to put that aside, is such a role really worth his time? It feels like it makes too much sense for him to walk away.

We’ll just have to wait and see what becomes of Wentz moving forward.

Meanwhile, in Philadelphia, it’s crazy how high his former backup has ascended. The Eagles are poised to go from taking on a record breaking dead cap number to get rid of Wentz to giving Jalen Hurts one of the most lucrative contracts in NFL history.