Eagles coach Doug Pederson said Monday he hasn’t made a decision whether to start Jalen Hurts or Carson Wentz next week after benching Wentz in Sunday’s 30-16 loss to the Green Bay Packers.
But long term, the Eagles might be stuck with Wentz.
After signing a four-year, $128 million contract extension in 2019, Wentz’s salary is fully guaranteed for 2021 — and his 2022 salary will become locked in if Philadelphia doesn’t move on from the quarterback this offseason. The problem? The cost to move on from Wentz would be crippling to a team’s salary cap.
According to Over The Cap, the Eagles would take a cap hit of $59.2 million in 2021 if they wanted to cut Wentz — a non starter. If they some how found a willing trade partner, Philadelphia would still have $33.8 million in dead money on the books.
Over The Cap’s Jason Fitzgerald ranked Wentz’s contract as the ninth-worst in football in a recent article, writing, “Wentz is one of those players where the contract was fine in relation to the market but now just looks like a catastrophe.”
If Wentz is cut in 2022, releasing the 27-year-old would still result in $24 million of dead money on the cap.
Wentz, too, is set to have the fifth-highest cap hit in the league next year at $34.6 million.
It’s been a stunning fall for Wentz, the second overall pick from 2016 who has the third-lowest passer rating this year. On Sunday, he completed just 40% of his passes (6-of-15) for 40 yards and was sacked four times before Pederson yanked him in the third quarter.
This season, Wentz has completed a career-worst 57.4% of his passes with a 16 touchdowns to 15 interceptions for 2,620 yards.
Former NFL executive Andrew Brandt compiled a list of assets that the Eagles have used to invest in Wentz, which now looks brutal in retrospect:
Eagles commitment to Carson Wentz:
— Andrew Brandt (@AndrewBrandt) December 7, 2020
2016 1st, 4th round picks
2017 1st, 2nd round picks
2016 contract: $27M; $17M signing bonus
2019 contract: $128M; full guarantees in 2020, 2021; partial guarantee in 2022.
Earnings to date: $80M
Traded Bradford.
Let Foles head to free agency.
• Matthew Paras can be reached at mparas@washingtontimes.com.
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