The Philadelphia Eagles haven’t declared or made their intentions known that they are trading quarterback Carson Wentz, but teams are nevertheless sliding into the team’s DMs asking about offers.
With quarterbacks already on the move in the pre-offseason, what with the Detroit Lions trading Matthew Stafford to the Los Angeles Rams for Jared Goff, it shows 2021 will have a very active quarterback market.
With the friction between the Houston Texans and three-time Pro Bowl quarterback Deshaun Watson, teams have to be making similar calls to the AFC South franchise — regardless of general manager Nick Caserio’s “zero interest” policy.
Teams aren’t calling the Eagles because they want to help their buddy, Eagles owner Jeff Lurie, by taking a big contact off his books. Franchises are contacting the Eagles because they believe the former 2016 first-round pick is an upgrade to their current quarterback situation.
How much of an upgrade would Watson be? How much would teams be willing to give up to solidify their quarterback situation for the next five years? With Wentz, he would be part of an evaluation and maybe the team gets lucky, a la Ryan Tannehill with the Tennessee Titans in 2019. Watson would add leadership and talent to the position wherever he lands.
The difference with Wentz and Watson, despite the latter having made intentions of departure well known, is it wouldn’t take much to acquire Wentz, given the Eagles finally relent. It would take a trade that would eclipse the likes of the Ricky Williams trade and the Herschel Walker trade to get Watson, and that is if Caserio finally gives up trying to get the franchise quarterback to buy in to the new culture under coach David Culley. How much exactly is an emperor’s ransom to acquire a young, dynamic quarterback who is still improving at his craft?
If Wentz does get traded, it also narrows the destinations for Watson and potential partners for Houston, which is why the Texans need to resolve the Watson situation quickly — good or bad.
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