After just one season, the Indianapolis Colts parted ways with quarterback Carson Wentz in March, a move that was nearly inevitable in the eyes of owner Jim Irsay.
After trading Wentz to the Washington Commanders for a handful of draft picks, Irsay told reporters that “it was very obvious” the Colts had to move on from the quarterback they had just traded a first-round pick for during the previous offseason.
Irsay also said moving on from that “mistake” was the better option than sticking with Wentz simply because they made the move to bring him in.
Those comments took Wentz by surprise. He thought they were in a good place despite the epic, late-season collapse to end the 2021 season.
“I thought we did some incredible things, came up short at the end. Obviously, I struggled down the stretch there and timing was poor. But yeah, I didn’t expect that. I didn’t expect things to unfold the way they did and I thought things were in a pretty good place there,” Wentz said on the Colin Cowherd Podcast. “I had awesome relationships with every single person in that building. Can’t say enough good things about the people over there. Yeah, it kinda came out of left field, you know? He’s entitled to his own opinion and he’s entitled to do what he wants with his football team.”
The writing was on the wall for Wentz once the season ended. The team still can’t stop talking about the embarrassing 26-11 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, which effectively ended any glimmer of playoff hope. Wentz certainly had a hand in that.
While some will take a big picture view of Wentz’s stats and believe there is an elite quarterback somewhere buried inside, the inconsistency and volatility that came with his play were too much for the Colts to overcome during the final month of the season.
During those final four games, Wentz completed just 58.3% of his passes for 615 yards, five touchdowns, two interceptions and an 86.1 passer rating.
The Colts are heading in a different direction with veteran Matt Ryan now leading the offense. Indy got somewhat lucky to get him considering they moved on from Wentz without a true plan in place for his successor.
This likely isn’t the last time we’ll hear either side talking about Wentz’s short time with the Colts, and it will all build to a rematch at Lucas Oil Stadium in Week 8.
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