It only took one game of Jalen Hurts, but now there’s Carson Wentz trade talk everywhere. Should they flip him to the Colts? A Frank Reich reunion? Is the contract even movable?

Let’s actually start with the current QB1. Hurts is here on a rookie deal that takes him through 2023. This is the typical cost-controlled contract that will only see him hit the cap between one and two million dollars. He is set to become an unrestricted free agent in 2024.

In simple terms, they have an incredibly affordable Hurts for the next several seasons.

Carson’s contract is the talking point, and you’ve heard a lot about it recently, so here are some basic facts about his deal:

  • he signed his four-year, $129 million extension in June of 2019
  • that extension technical begins in 2021, when Carson’s base salary jumps to $15 million
  • his overall cap hit in 2021 increases from $18 million to $34 million
  • in 2021, he has $25 million guaranteed on his deal
  • the dead cap hits moving forward are $59 million, $24 million, $15 million, and $6 million, according to Over the Cap 
  • there are beefy roster bonuses in 2021, 2023, and 2024

So we know that he is essentially uncuttable next year. There’s just no way they can do that. We also know that the salary cap is dropping to around $175 million because of financial losses due to COVID-19 and that the Eagles are up against the cap as it is, so they have very little in the wiggle room department.

Now to Jeremy Fowler at ESPN:

A trade would be costly, too, with the Eagles owing $33.8 million in dead cap to spread over two years if Wentz is dealt before the third day of the league year. His yearly cap hit would be off the books in that case, but that’s still a lot of money to absorb without much return. Trading Wentz in 2022 would be more manageable, with his cap hit dropping to $24.5 million.

Wentz could always rework his deal to facilitate a trade if he wants a new start. In fact, Foles just did that this offseason to get to Chicago. The Bears reworked the $56.9 million remaining from his Jacksonville Jaguars deal into a three-year, $24 million pact with $21 million guaranteed.

Even if Indy wants to take Carson, you’re still moving an asset with relatively low value and not getting much in return. The Colts aren’t going to give you much more than a mid-round pick considering how much Wentz has fallen out of favor this season.

It also seems unlikely that somebody would rework a big-money deal they only signed in 2019. But you never know. If Carson is desperate for a change of scenery and really does not want to be stuck behind his former backup in Philadelphia, maybe he makes concessions to reunite with Frank Reich in Indy.

Here’s what Bill Barnwell had to say about the possibility of moving Wentz to the Colts:

Rightfully, many of the people who have wondered about a possible Wentz trade have linked him to the Colts. Wentz was close with Colts coach Frank Reich when Reich served as Eagles offensive coordinator in 2016 and 2017. Philip Rivers and Jacoby Brissett are both free agents after the season, leaving Indy with $67 million in cap space and no quarterback on the roster besides rookie fourth-round pick Jacob Eason. The Colts could use Wentz more than any other team, and we just saw general manager Chris Ballard send a first-round pick to the 49ers to pick up a difference-maker in DeForest Buckner.

It’s a tricky situation. They may have to just stick with Carson in 2021 and hope the guy comes back looking more like the player we saw in the past, or else they’re really going to be a pickle.

Regardless, we have now firmly entered catch-22 territory, which we talked about last week. The Eagles are either going to be stuck with a highly-paid QB sitting on the bench, or the talented backup 2nd round QB is on the bench instead. There’s no path forward that is going to magically make this go away. They’re going to have to suffer a negative consequence in some way, shape, or form.