Bill Barnwell of ESPN recently set out to rank the worst decision for each NFL team since 2020. So what move did Barnwell select for the Indianapolis Colts?
Unfortunately, there are a few options for Barnwell to choose from, but he ended up selecting the Colts’ decision to give up a conditional second-round pick that eventually turned into a first-round selection, along with a third-round pick to acquire quarterback Carson Wentz from the Philadelphia Eagles.
In the grand scheme of Barnwell’s ranking of the worst moves, this one wasn’t relatively all that bad, coming in at No. 19 on his list.
The former second overall pick in the 2016 draft, Wentz wasn’t coming off of a good season with the Eagles in 2020 prior to the Colts trading for him. Wentz lost his job that season to Jalen Hurts after completing just 57% of his passes at 6.0 yards per attempt with 16 touchdowns and 15 interceptions.
Although as Barnwell notes, Wentz was still just 29 years old at the time of this trade with the Colts in need of a long-term answer at quarterback.
“It was easy to chalk up Wentz’s sudden struggles to some combination of an injury-hit offensive line, bad interception luck and a breakdown in his relationship with coach Doug Pederson,” wrote Barnwell.
With the Colts for the 2021 season, Wentz’s numbers did improve as he completed 62% of his throws at 6.9 yards per attempt with 27 touchdowns to just seven interceptions. Unfortunately, it still wasn’t enough to get the Colts to the playoffs with Wentz missing practice time and struggling down the stretch.
“He faded badly down the stretch, missing practice time while being put on the reserve/COVID-19 list,” wrote Barnwell. “A victory in either of Indy’s final two games would have pushed it into the playoffs, but Wentz could only muster 333 passing yards in a pair of losses.”
That following offseason, the Colts would trade Wenz to Washington, getting two third-round picks in return.