Do the Colts want to take another ride on the Carson Wentz roller coaster in 2022?
It’s going to be one of the biggest questions of the off-season and one that has already been talked about at length. The other question has been can the team get rid of Wentz and if so, then who do they turn to at quarterback? We’ll save the latter question for another time but during Wednesday’s edition of Kevin & Query, the guys had on The Athletic‘s Stephen Holder. During his weekly appearance, Holder discussed why not only is it possible for the Colts to move off of Wentz, but it actually makes financial sense to do so.
“The estimates are the Colts are $53 million under the cap right now. If they were to cut Carson Wentz any time before March 19th, they actually gain an additional $13 million.” – Stephen Holder
Would moving off of Carson Wentz leave a massive hole on the quarterback depth chart? Without question. But it also gives the Colts financial flexibility to pursue either another veteran QB in free agency or other positions of need. Just looking at the statistics, Carson Wentz had a fine season. But if you look past the numbers what did your eyes tell you? If he someone the Colts can rely on to bring the team to the next level in 2022, which at this point would be a playoff berth? If you ride with Wentz for another season you not only are putting a lot of pressure on him to up his game but then you potentially waste another season of Jonathan Taylor, Darius Leonard, etc. if he fails. Is it worth the risk from both a financial and team perspective or are they better off finding someone else for next season?
Kevin and Jake debated how many other QBs in the league would be considered “upgrades” over Wentz and it was pretty evident that Wentz is at best a middle of the road quarterback at this point. A middle of the road quarterback that you’ve already exchanged your 2022 first-round pick for. How much more are the Colts willing to sacrifice for Wentz? That all depends on how much confidence he instills in the front office and among the coaching staff. It’ll be one of the mostly closely watched situations, especially the closer that March 19th deadline approaches which carries the $13 million guaranteed in his contract.
One guy who is ready to move off of Wentz is current ESPN analyst and former Colts center Jeff Saturday, who repeated some of his sharp Wentz critiques that he shared with us on Monday, with a national audience on ESPN’s First Take:
Former Colts OL @SaturdayJeff thinks it’s time for Indy to move on from Carson Wentz.
“When the moments mattered most, he really didn’t step up!” pic.twitter.com/2Sj45pWf78
— First Take (@FirstTake) January 11, 2022
For the full conversation with Stephen Holder, click the link below and be sure to listen to Kevin & Query every weekday morning from 7-10 on 93.5 & 107.5 The Fan!
