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The Indianapolis Colts got a lot of weight off their shoulders on Wednesday as they were able to trade Carson Wentz away to the Washington Commanders. The Colts received one second-round and two third-round picks, while Washington will take on Wentz's full salary this season, which is worth a whopping $28 million.
Former Colts punter Pat McAfee had harsh words for Wentz following his exit from Indy on ESPN's Get Up.
McAfee said:
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"All right, I got no problem going in there for the Indianapolis Colts and I think anytime you think about the Carson Wentz experience at the Indianapolis Colts... you have to put it in a couple different categories. For instance, when he [Wentz] was playing good football, it is great. I mean, it is electrifying. It is fantastic. But he is the most reckless quarterback I've ever seen in my entire life with the football. The ball is the program. I didn't grow up in the football culture. I got dropped and baptized in West Virginia when I was there. But literally day one through the day that I retired, the only thing that coaches and programs and organizations talked about was protecting the football. And although his stats say he threw 27 touchdowns and only 7 interceptions, there was 4 interceptions dropped by the Niners that was just in one game.”
McAfee added that Wentz would try to extend plays too often, which would result in bad plays:
“The guy is a madman. He's incredibly tough, too tough for his own good in my particular opinion. I think that's what Jim Irsay thought. I think that's what Chris Ballard thought. It was heart-wrenching... every single time you watch Carson Wentz play, every single play was no play left behind. We're going to try to extend this thing as long as possible. Even if I sprained both of my ankles on this play, I'm gonna continue to try to make a play so I think it just got to the point with how good the team is around Carson here in Indianapolis. The coach said we just have to find a much more you know, reliable, calm, consistent quarterback."
Colts head into free agency with most cap space following Carson Wentz trade
The Colts now have $69.8 million in salary-cap space following the Wentz trade. As mentioned, the Colts were not only lucky enough to find a trade partner for Wentz, but they were somehow able to get Washington to take on his full cap-hit of $28 million this season.
The Colts now have the flexibility to acquire a quarterback via trade, such as Deshaun Watson, Kirk Cousins, and Jimmy Garoppolo. Indianapolis can also draft a quarterback if they decide to address their position in that direction.
Regardless of what the Colts do at quarterback, they are set up with the most cap space in the league and should be adding some solid players in free agency.
