Day 42 of the interminable Carson Wentz trade rumors saga brings us Les Bowen sharing what he’s hearing about the Philadelphia Eagles’ quarterback situation. Here’s the insight he shared after speaking with a league source:
Spoke with NFL management source (not from Eagles) about the Wentz melodrama. His viewpoint: If Wentz doesn’t want the Bears, Bears aren’t gonna trade for him. Eventually the Eagles take whatever Indy is offering, maybe a second plus something. Also, Eagles draft a QB 6th overall
— Les Bowen (@LesBowen) February 17, 2021
Reports indicate that the Chicago Bears have pushed harder to trade for Wentz than the Indianapolis Colts have. But if Wentz doesn’t want to go to the Windy City, which is understandable from a standpoint of Indy being more preferable, then it doesn’t seem like he’s going to end up visiting Lou Malnati’s anytime soon. Yes, the Eagles can trade him against his will … but are the Bears even submitting a real offer if they know Wentz doesn’t want to play in Chicago?
And so if the Eagles are truly set on trading Wentz, as still appears to be the case, they’ll probably just have to take what the Colts are offering. Indy’s bid was previously reported to be two second-round picks, but I’ve heard things that make me believe the proposal might actually be even less lucrative than that. The Colts clearly only want to acquire Wentz at a price that matches their comfort level.
While it’s been quiet, Eagles and Colts have continued trade talks for Carson Wentz. One important aspect of this, I’m told, is Indy hasn’t significantly changed its offer from where it started more than a week ago. For the most part, Colts aren’t budging.
— Zak Keefer (@zkeefer) February 17, 2021
On Carson Wentz/Colts talks, this is standard operating procedure for GM Chris Ballard whether in trades or free agency negotiations. Evaluate, set a price threshold and stick to it. You can view that as a negative or positive, but that’s how it works. Always.
— Stephen Holder (@HolderStephen) February 17, 2021
Getting to that last line of what Bowen originally tweeted, it shouldn’t come as a shock that drafting a quarterback is going to be on the table for an organization that dubbed itself a “QB factory.” If the Eagles were willing to draft Jalen Hurts with a second-round pick last year when they thought they actually had a franchise quarterback, why wouldn’t they draft one when they don’t know if they have such an answer? Hurts has potential, maybe, but he’s far from a sure thing.
On Eagles drafting QB sixth overall — bear in mind, Eagles might have a different eval of Hurts than this person, who said his team rated Hurts as a fourth-roundish, backup-with-a-chance type. He thinks, picking high in 1st is a rare chance, u can do better, u have to take a shot
— Les Bowen (@LesBowen) February 17, 2021
There’s an argument the Eagles should ride it out with Hurts for a year and see what he’s got. If he’s bad, the team can focus on drafting a quarterback next year. 2021 is shaping up to be a lost season anyway.
Merely hoping Hurts can be the answer isn’t a real strategy, though. If you don’t have a franchise quarterback, you have to do what it takes to get one.
The problem is, it’s hard to have the faith in this regime identifying such a talent and correctly building around him in the long-term. The Eagles clearly failed to do as much with Wentz.
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