The Carson Wentz trade is a win-win for Colts and Eagles

Carson Wentz found a new home after weeks of trade rumors. The Philadelphia Eagles have traded the 28-year-old quarterback to the Indianapolis Colts for a 2021 third round pick and a conditional 2022 second round pick that will become a first rounder if Wentz plays 70 percent of the snaps in Indy, or 70 percent of the snaps and the team makes the playoffs.

Finding a home for the disgruntled quarterback was becoming increasingly difficult, but in the end it was the perfect trade for both teams — even if Philly had hopes to get a little more.

This is by no means a home run, at least for Indianapolis. Wentz will now count towards a significant amount of their salary cap, and there’s no guarantee he’ll be able to put it back together — but, considering the lower-than-expected compensation, could be worth the risk.

Why the Colts are winners

Indianapolis was in dire need of a quarterback, plain and simple. Philip Rivers was always going to be a short-term solution for a team desperate to find its franchise quarterback after the shocking retirement of Andrew Luck. The pressure was dialed up when Rivers retired following the playoffs, meaning the Colts needed to quickly find a replacement.

There was always going to be interest from Indianapolis in Wentz, and the trade reunites the quarterback with Frank Reich, who was the Eagles’ offensive coordinator during some of Wentz’s best days in Philadelphia.

More importantly, the deal gives Wentz the polar opposite of what he had with the Eagles. A large part of his deterioration in play came from a lack of trust in the offensive line. Now he moves from an Eagles team that allowed 65 sacks, while the Colts allowed 21 on the season. It’s the protection he’s been craving, and now it’s there.

Indianapolis is in dire need of weapons to put around their new quarterback, but there is no doubt this is a great deal for them, with little risk outside of the cap hit. If rebuilding Wentz works, the Colts could have solidified their offense for years to come.

Why the Eagles are winners

They found a trade partner. That’s really the biggest element of all this. When the team committed to Jalen Hurts at quarterback there was a dire need to move Wentz and get his contract off the books, and the longer this process dragged on, the lower the price would have been become.

Making a trade in February sets the team up better for the future. Now Philly can look ahead to the draft. Should Wentz be revitalized it will also give the team a future first round pick to support Hurts more, and continue building their team.

There’s undoubtably a little disappointment from the front office they couldn’t get more in a trade. There were reports they wanted “considerable compensation” in return for the former No. 2 overall pick, and getting a third and a conditional second is definitely not that. However, getting Wentz off the books was critical — and that alone means they won this deal too.