Carson to the Commanders, now what for the Colts?
It's been a crazy 48 hours in the National Football League with the Seattle Seahawks dealing nine-time pro bowler Russell Wilson to the Denver Broncos on Tuesday and the Indianapolis Colts shipping Carson Wentz back to the NFC East on Wednesday to join the Washington Commanders.
Here are the details of the Wentz trade from ESPN's Adam Schefter.
The trade is quite puzzling considering that Wentz lasted just one season in the Circle City and the franchise gave up a lot for him. The initial trade had the Colts giving Philadelphia a 2021 third-round pick and a conditional second-round pick in 2022 that improved to a first-round pick with the signal-caller playing 70% of Indianapolis' snaps this past season.
It wasn't as if Wentz performed poorly throughout the duration of the campaign. He threw for 27 touchdown passes and had a career-low in interceptions with seven for the season. Wentz did struggle with playoff positioning on the line during the final two contests, losing to the Las Vegas Raiders and the Jacksonville Jaguars to be knocked out of the NFL playoff race.
Quarterback instability has haunted the Colts ever since the retirement of Andrew Luck back in August 2019, so where does the franchise go from here? There are a couple of options for Indy to explore if they can strike a deal.
TRADE FOR DEREK CARR
It's clear that the AFC West has become an arms race of sorts for gunslingers, featuring Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert, and now Russell Wilson. New Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels could look to move on from Carr if the price is right. The Raiders quarterback comes off a season in which he passed for a career-high 4,804 passing yards and completed 68.4 percent of his passes. While he would be a good fit in Indy, it seems unlikely the Colts could make the deal happen due to the lack of a first-round pick in April's upcoming draft.
TRADE FOR JIMMY GAROPPOLO
Time is ticking for Jimmy G in San Francisco as the franchise had made it quite evident that it is willing to move on to Trey Lance as its signal-caller. The price tag for Garoppolo seems easy for the Colts to stomach considering he would command a mid-round pick which the Colts have a plethora.
HOW ABOUT DESMOND RIDDER?
CBS Sports reports that Ridder was "superior" to all other quarterbacks who participated in athletic testing during this past week at the combine. The incoming rookie proved doubters wrong all season leading the Cincinnati Bearcats to the College Football Playoff Semifinal. Pairing him up with the young stars of the Colts like Jonathan Taylor, Michael Pittman Jr., and Darius Leonard could be a scary combination that dominates the AFC South for years to come.