First it was Deshaun Watson. Then Matthew Stafford. Then Derek Carr. Now there are Chicago Bears Carson Wentz rumors. Yet these might be surrounded by the thickest smoke yet. After initial belief the Bears were reluctant to jump into the Wentz sweepstakes for a number of reasons, the realization that the veteran market could be drying up fast may be forcing the hand of GM Ryan Pace and head coach Matt Nagy.
The evidence has been there for some time that the Bears are aiming to win now in 2021. For that to happen, they need an upgrade at quarterback. Is Wentz one such option? That depends. Would they be getting the Wentz from 2017 to 2019 or the Wentz from 2020. The former had 81 TDs to 21 interceptions, made the Pro Bowl, and helped win a Super Bowl. The latter threw almost as many interceptions as touchdowns and was benched for a rookie 2nd round pick before the end of the season.
Not to mention reports of him being a questionable teammate and difficult to coach.
Yet the rumors have begun to surge that the Bears are starting to ramp up talks with Philadelphia over a possible deal. What people are deathly afraid of is what it might take. Pace has a long history of overpaying when it comes to the quarterback position. See Mike Glennon, Mitch Trubisky, and Nick Foles. He had eyes for Wentz going all the way back to the 2016 draft. It’s not hard to imagine he’d bid against himself to make such a deal work.
Clarity on the matter is hard to come by. One person who provided some, at least if you trust the source, is Howard Eskin. He’s covered the Eagles on the radio and as a sideline reporter for many years. So he has close ties to the organization. As rumors kept spreading, he reached out to his own sources and had some information to offer.
Subscribe to the BFR podcast and ride shotgun with Dave and Ficky as they break down Bears football like nobody else.
QB Carson Wentz traded by next week? #Eagles #Colts @SportsRadioWIP pic.twitter.com/KXl4zsTkyz
— Howard Eskin (@howardeskin) February 5, 2021
Bears Carson Wentz rumors do hold weight but how much?
It’s not hard to make connections between the Bears and Wentz. As stated before, Pace liked him coming out of North Dakota State. John DeFilippo is Chicago’s quarterbacks coach. He worked with Wentz for two years in the same job with the Eagles in 2016 and 2017. Pace and Eagles GM Howie Roseman have done frequent business together involving three previous trades. The most recent involving the Bears moving up late in the 2020 draft for Darnell Mooney.
The thing is the Indianapolis Colts have a lot of the same arguments. Their head coach Frank Reich was the offensive coordinator for Philadelphia in ’16 and ’17. The Colts just lost Philip Rivers to retirement and have a ton of salary cap space. So they can absorb that massive contract. It’s a matter of how big of a price GM Chris Ballard is willing to pay. Nobody knows for sure yet it appears to be hovering around a 1st round pick.
Whether all this proves to be true is uncertain.
The Bears Carson Wentz connection is obvious. Pace is an aggressive GM. Going after the 28-year old seems like something he’d do. Presuming he has the blessing of Matt Nagy of course. There is a hope that Wentz is salvageable. He was a good player not too long ago. Maybe a fresh start elsewhere is what he needs. Then again Chicago doesn’t have a glowing history of turning quarterback careers around.