People were so convinced the Chicago Bears were the favorites to land Carson Wentz two weeks ago before the Super Bowl. They were desperate for an upgrade at QB. They had connections to the former Pro Bowler. Surely GM Ryan Pace would throw caution to the wind and make a run at the 28-year old. Price is not an object.
Except as the days passed, nothing happened. SM reported from the start that the Wentz interest from the Bears side wasn’t nearly as pronounced as people thought. It was more a media-drive thing. Sure enough, the other shoe finally dropped. Wentz would not be coming to Chicago. He would instead head for Indianapolis, the place he wanted to go all along.
Philadelphia has agreed to trade Carson Wentz to the Indianapolis Colts in exchange for a 2021 third-round pick and a conditional 2022 second-round pick that could turn into a first, league sources tell @mortreport and me.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 18, 2021
The conditional second-rounder in 2022 becomes a first-rounder if Wentz plays 75 percent of the snaps or 70 percent and the team makes the playoffs. https://t.co/quAYwcz7bd
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) February 18, 2021
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Chicago never made a lot of sense from the start.
Look at the money. Wentz would’ve brought a $34 million salary cap hit with him from Philadelphia. The Bears are already projected to be $6 million over the cap in 2021. Taking on that massive contract would’ve forced them to gut a large chunk of their roster to make it. That would’ve gone against their goal of winning this season, putting more pressure on the quarterback to perform.
Then there’s the track record. Wentz is coming off the worst season of his career. One where he was accused of being difficult to coach. There was a butting of heads with head coach Doug Pederson. A friend and colleague of Matt Nagy, don’t forget. Teammates weren’t overly fond of him and he seemed to come across as entitled. It just sounds like a lot of unnecessary baggage.
Carson Wentz never had good odds to succeed in Chicago
He’s a talented quarterback. That hasn’t changed. Yet after watching what happened in that pressure cooker situation with the Eagles, it’s hard to imagine he would’ve turned things around with the Bears. This city is just as unforgiving with quarterbacks who don’t perform. Not to mention the added pressure of Nagy and Pace being on the hot seat wouldn’t have helped.
Landing in Indianapolis is ideal for him. A smaller market city with stability at the top and a head coach he loves. Whether it works out long-term? There is no way to know. It’s just fairly easy to predict coming to the Bears wouldn’t have ended well for him. Chicago needs a different solution at the position. It’s still a matter of finding it.
Options still remain for them.
Deshaun Watson, Dak Prescott, and Derek Carr remain uncertain if likely unattainable. Sam Darnold and Marcus Mariota are interesting second-tier options. There is also the still very real possibility this is all a smokescreen for the Bears planning a big move in the NFL draft. If nothing else, this is a welcome realization that Pace may have learned a thing or two about not letting his sense of urgency to find a quarterback override his common sense.
Yes, Chicago needs one. However, it needs the right one. Carson Wentz isn’t the right one. Nothing about his background suggests otherwise.