While no decision has been made yet on the future of Indianapolis Colts starting quarterback Carson Wentz, it sure seems that everyone is giving their opinions on what will happen.
There has been plenty of smoke in regards to a potential trade going down with the 29-year-old quarterback, starting with ESPN’s Chris Mortensen’s half-report, half-speculation bombshell he dropped on Super Bowl Sunday.
Mike Chappell of Fox59, arguably the most connected of the Colts beat writers, believes it’s more likely Wentz will be released if Chris Ballard can’t find a trade partner when the new league year opens on March 16.
“A divorce is likely after March 16, the start of the new league year, and before March 19, when another chunk of Wentz’ contract becomes guaranteed.
It’s possible Ballard is able to find a quarterback-needy team and limit the damage from one trade that didn’t work out with another that mitigates the investment. That could at least bring a mid-round draft pick and ease or erase Indy’s obligation toward the $28.3 million Wentz is due in 2022.
There are a slew of possible trade partners, and it only takes one to believe it can fix whatever is deemed wrong with Wentz.
Failing that, cutting their starting QB seems inevitable.”
It should be noted that Chappell isn’t reporting any news here. This is more his opinion on the matter considering all of the smoke that has been surrounding the situation during this young offseason.
If the Colts were to release Wentz after failing to find a trade partner, they would take on a dead-cap hit of $15 million. If the release takes place before March 18, the Colts would save just over $13.2 million in salary-cap space, according to Over The Cap.
The Colts are certainly going through the process of evaluating all options at the quarterback position. And while it seemed Wentz had a chance to stay earlier in the offseason, there are so many rumors and reports swirling around that it seems inescapable he’ll be gone one way or another.
The Colts can technically agree to a trade with a team whenever they want even though the deal wouldn’t be official until March 16. They went that route when they agreed to trade for Wentz in 2021.
We are still in a wait-and-see game when it comes to Wentz and it’s difficult to sift through the noise to find what will really happen.
But some big voices are coming out of the woodwork supporting the notion that Wentz won’t survive the offseason in Indy.
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