The Indianapolis Colts are trading signal caller Carson Wentz to the Washington Commanders for multiple picks. The exchange will not be made official until next Tuesday, when the new NFL league year begins. ESPN’s Adam Schefter first reported the news Wednesday.
The Colts will receive the Commanders third-round draft picks for the next two seasons. The 2023 third-rounder can be made into a second-round draft selection if Wentz plays 70% of the snaps. The teams also swapped second-round picks in 2022, with the Colts moving up slightly from No. 47 overall to No. 42.
The Commanders will be on the hook for the full $28 million due to Wentz for the 2022 campaign, which includes a $5 million roster bonus coming next week. His contract has a potential out after that, which means that Wentz could be just a bridge quarterback.
The trade comes seven days after Commanders general manager Martin Mayhew said that the organization had “canvassed the league effectively” to find a quarterback. Washington has started 32 quarterbacks since last winning the Super Bowl in 1991, including eight in the past three seasons.
Taylor Heinicke went 7-8 as Washington’s starter last season, throwing for 3,419 yards, with 20 touchdown passes and 15 interception.
Wentz spent one season under center for the Colts after Indianapolis gave the Philadelphia Eagles first- and third-round draft picks for him in February 2021. It was an unsuccessful attempt to find their next franchise quarterback after the retirement of Philip Rivers after the 2020 season.
The No. 2 overall pick in the 2016 draft, Wentz threw 27 touchdowns and tied his career low, with seven picks last season. He struggled in the last two weeks of the season, when they only had to win one game to make it into the post season.
Wentz only completed 59% of his passes, threw two touchdowns and had two turnovers against the Las Vegas Raiders and Jacksonville Jaguars to finish the season. He threw for at least 200 yards in only two of the last eight games. In the upset loss to the Jaguars in the season finale, Wentz posted an awful 4.3 total QBR, which was a career-low.
Wentz was an MVP candidate for the Philadelphia Eagles before having a catastrophic ACL tear late in the 2017 season and lost his starting job to Jalen Hurts in 2020, leading to his trade to Indianapolis. Wentz is going to his third team in the last three years and will face both of his former teams in the upcoming year.
Wentz’s leaving means that the search for a long-term quarterback for the Colts since the retirement of Andrew Luck in August of 2019 continues. Sam Ehlinger and James Morgan are the only quarterbacks currently on the roster. Neither player has started a regular season NFL game.
