Eagles struggle with their Carson Wentz mess, quarterback quandary
In order to understand the Eagles' quarterback situation going forward, it's necessary to revisit how Philadelphia got into this mess where Carson Wentz is the backup quarterback to Jalen Hurts.
Back in April, it seemed logical enough for Eagles general manager Howie Roseman to draft Hurts in the second round, whether you felt they needed to address a different position or not.
Wentz had dealt with injuries over his career, the Eagles were up against the salary cap, so why not, in Roseman's words, become a "quarterback factory?"
So the plan was to develop a QB who could serve as a much cheaper backup than perhaps spending $8-10 million on a veteran backup in free agency. That would enable the Eagles to develop Hurts slowly, perhaps work him into games here and there for gadget plays. Then by 2022, they could make a decision either to trade or release Wentz, or keep him.
That would be when Wentz's four-year, $128 million contract would be much more palatable to either keep or move on from.
There was only one problem that the Eagles never considered in April: What happens if Wentz were to regress to the situation the Eagles are in now, where they're 3-8-1 heading into their game against the Saints, and Wentz is one of the worst quarterbacks in the NFL, necessitating the change to Hurts?
"Way back in April, am I sitting here thinking that this was going to happen?" Eagles coach Doug Pederson said. "No. Take Carson Wentz out of it. I didn't expect us to be in this situation back in April. So, let's just start there. Has nothing to do with Carson, has everything to do with obviously the team and where we are.
"My expectation was definitely, and it still is, extremely high for this football team. But I didn't expect us to be here, no."
The idea of using Hurts for more than a handful of plays per game this season never entered Pederson's thinking as the season began. If Wentz were truly a franchise quarterback, there was no reason to disrupt the offense by bringing in Hurts.
And then Pederson had no choice.
Wentz ranks 30th out of 32 quarterbacks in passer rating (72.8), 31st in completion percentage (57.4%) and 31st in average gain per completion (6.0 yards). He has thrown the most interceptions (15) and been sacked the most times (50).
From 2017-19, Wentz had a record of 25-15, a passer rating of 98.3 and a completion percentage of 64.4%. He threw just 21 interceptions total.
Wentz's downward spiral
Wentz's regression is mystifying.
Legendary Eagles quarterback Ron Jaworski, on a recent podcast, called Wentz's slump, "the biggest I have ever seen, and I came into this league in 1973."
Added former NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason on CBS' "NFL Today" show: "He's in a dark place. He needs a therapist, probably new coaches, and probably a new GM as well."
But really, there's plenty of blame to go around, as Eagles center Jason Kelce pointed out.
"Whenever you're this bad, it's never just one person," he said. "It's never just one position group, and it's never just players, coaches, front office. It's everybody. And that's the reality.
"We should be able to manufacture more points than we're putting up. And we should be able to play better no matter what's called, and put up more points than we're putting up. So this is ultimately a failure on a lot of different levels"
So, how do the Eagles fix it?
Pederson has said often that the head coach and quarterback are "married," meaning that if the quarterback doesn't succeed, then the head coach typically pays the price by losing his job.
Perhaps that's why Pederson also said that Wentz isn't a lost cause.
"I think Carson Wentz can be an exceptional quarterback in this league, and he's proven that, right?" Pederson said. "Back in ’17, ‘18 and last year. We got to continue to battle and fight and work and work with him ... and just get (him) back to being Carson Wentz, and back on track."
But what if Hurts plays well Sunday, then continues to start the rest of the season, and the Eagles decide he should be the starter going forward?
Keep in mind that it would be very difficult to move on from Wentz during the offseason. That's both because of the $59.2 million in dead money that would count against the salary cap if the Eagles were to release Wentz, and the $34.7 million in dead money if they were to trade him.
The Eagles could be as much as $65 million over the projected salary cap for 2021 with Wentz on the roster or traded away. It'll be $90 million over if he's released.
So if Wentz is coming back as a backup, and taking up about one-fifth of the Eagles' salary cap, will the Eagles want a different coach to develop Hurts?
Can Wentz be saved?
Hurts provides defenses a different set of challenges because of his ability in the read-option – as a runner, handing off to Miles Sanders, or throwing quick slants over the middle to a receiver like Jalen Reagor in space.
"It should definitely open up the running game even more because defenses are going to have to respect Jalen’s legs and what he can do with the ball," Sanders said about the change in quarterbacks. "So hopefully it’s tough for (opponents) and we can take advantage of that."
If that's the case, can the Eagles make it an offseason project to revitalize Wentz? There are reasons to think they can.
The Eagles could be using their 12th different offensive line in 13 games against the Saints. The receiving corps is transitioning from injured and aging veterans like DeSean Jackson and Alshon Jeffery to rookies like Reagor, Travis Fulgham and John Hightower.
And, unlike this past season, the Eagles might have an entire offseason to get valuable on-field work that they and the other 31 NFL teams weren't able to do because of the coronavirus pandemic.
At the very least, Wentz should get that chance during the offseason, even if it means winning a competition with Hurts, regardless if it's announced that way or not. But really, the Eagles backed themselves into a corner, and they might not have a choice but to hope Wentz fixes himself, and in the process, fixes the Eagles.
Defensive end Brandon Graham should know.
As the Eagles' first-round pick in 2010, Graham was thought to be a bust through his first four seasons, thinking that he was even going to get released on several occasions before turning his career around.
So what advice would he give Wentz?
"Don’t worry about what the naysayers say," Graham said. "It doesn’t matter because you’re the one who can change what people are saying by how you work. That’s what kept me here, how hard I worked and how hard I tried to flip that negative and turn it into a positive."
This time, Wentz's future isn't the only one riding on "flipping that negative."
Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.