Carson Wentz trade fallout may have long-term implications for Colts franchise

The Indianapolis Colts made a bold move last March by trading for Carson Wentz. The quarterback was essentially given up on by the Philadelphia Eagles, and Indianapolis decided to give up a third-round pick and another that was a conditional second-rounder. That ended up turning into a first-round pick.

While the Colts did win nine games, Wentz choked when it mattered most. His team fell to the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 18 with a playoff berth on the line. The performance was so bad thta the team is reportedly trying to move on from him when the new league year begins in March.

Yet there are several problems with this new reality. The first is that it may be impossible to trade Wentz given how he finished the season, coupled with his contract.

He is set to earn over $28 million in 2022 and has a $15 million dead cap hit. So if the Colts can't find a trade partner, they have to eat that $15 million.

But let's say the Colts do move on one way or another. Unless they are directly trading Wentz for another signal-caller, which seems unlikely, they will have a tough time coming up with a trade that works to land a top-tier option.

The Colts lack key draft capital to move on from Carson Wentz

Indianapolis Colts v Jacksonville Jaguars

The Colts already traded their 2022 first-round pick to the Eagles. So in any scenario where Russell Wilson or Aaron Rodgers become available, they are at a huge disadvantage in negotiations.

This is also a team that went without several top picks in the past few years. They traded out of the first round in 2019 and sent their top pick to the San Francisco 49ers in 2020 for DeForest Buckner. Kwity Paye was taken at No. 21 overall in 2021 to break the streak.

So not only do the Colts not have their top 2022 pick for trades, but they have only added first-round talent once since 2018. At some point, they need to focus on building up their roster through the draft, which could also include drafting a quarterback.

The Wentz trade was a huge risk, and the fact that it flopped is bad news for all sides. For the quarterback, his stock has plummeted, and it will be tough to fathom him getting another big contract in his career, unless he dominates somewhere else in 2022. For the team, they lost a top pick in a year when they need to compete with a handful of teams also seeking new help under center.

If they could take this move back, they likely would. Convincing Philip Rivers to stick around for one more year would have saved a ton of money and hassle.

---