Carson Wentz and the Eagles agree on a four-year extension worth $128 million, and that looks like a good deal for both sides. He looks like an up-and-coming superstar at the position.
Wentz has had some injury issues the last two years, so he gets some security. He was very much interested in doing a deal.
The Eagles lock up one of the game’s best quarterbacks, and they get him for about as little as they could expect to pay. Jimmy Garoppolo and Kirk Cousins are both still making more than Wentz. This is about as cheap as the Eagles were going to get him.
Had the team let Wentz play out his rookie contract, it would have been a distraction, and the price tag would have gone way up had he put together the kind of season they’re expecting out of him. For the Eagles, the only potential advantage of letting Wentz play the fourth season of his rookie contract would come if he either got hurt again or turned into a pile garbage (which isn’t likely).
Wentz looked very much like an elite, emerging quarterback in 2017, with 33 touchdowns versus only 7 interceptions in the 13 games he started. For fantasy purposes, that was the 11th-best season by a quarterback in the last five years (that’s using per-game production, looking at quarterbacks who started at least half the time).
Wentz wasn’t as effective last year, but he was working his way back from a torn ACL.
For me, my only concern is that Frank Reich possibly was a key contributor to Wentz’s success. When Reich went to Indianapolis, Andrew Luck suddenly started putting up the same kind of numbers Wentz was posting in 2017. Philadelphia’s offense, meanwhile, fell a little bit flat. Some the Eagles’ success in their Super Bowl year can probably be attributed to Reich’s input.
In my eyes, Wentz isn’t up there with the super elite prospects this summer. He’s not one of those top 4 guys. But he’s definitely in my top 10.
QUARTERBACKS AVERAGING 23 POINTS PER GAME (last 5 years) | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Player | St | Pass | Run | TDP | TDR | Pts |
2018 | Patrick Mahomes, K.C. | 16 | 319 | 17 | 3.13 | .13 | 31.0 |
2015 | Cam Newton, Car. | 16 | 240 | 40 | 2.19 | .63 | 28.5 |
2016 | Aaron Rodgers, G.B. | 16 | 277 | 23 | 2.50 | .25 | 27.9 |
2014 | Andrew Luck, Ind. | 16 | 298 | 17 | 2.50 | .19 | 27.7 |
2018 | Ben Roethlisberger, Pitt. | 16 | 321 | 6 | 2.13 | .19 | 26.8 |
2018 | Matt Ryan, Atl. | 16 | 308 | 8 | 2.19 | .25 | 26.7 |
2016 | Drew Brees, N.O. | 16 | 326 | 1 | 2.31 | .13 | 26.4 |
2017 | Russell Wilson, Sea. | 16 | 249 | 37 | 2.13 | .19 | 26.0 |
2016 | Matt Ryan, Atl. | 16 | 309 | 7 | 2.38 | .00 | 25.9 |
2014 | Aaron Rodgers, G.B. | 16 | 274 | 17 | 2.38 | .13 | 25.7 |
2017 | Carson Wentz, Phil. | 13 | 254 | 23 | 2.54 | .00 | 25.7 |
2016 | Andrew Luck, Ind. | 15 | 283 | 23 | 2.07 | .13 | 25.7 |
2015 | Blake Bortles, Jac. | 16 | 277 | 19 | 2.19 | .13 | 25.4 |
2015 | Tom Brady, N.E. | 16 | 298 | 3 | 2.25 | .19 | 25.4 |
2018 | Jameis Winston, T.B. | 9 | 294 | 29 | 1.78 | .11 | 25.4 |
2018 | Andrew Luck, Ind. | 16 | 287 | 9 | 2.44 | .00 | 25.3 |
2015 | Drew Brees, N.O. | 15 | 325 | 1 | 2.13 | .07 | 25.3 |
2015 | Russell Wilson, Sea. | 16 | 252 | 35 | 2.13 | .06 | 24.9 |
2016 | Tom Brady, N.E. | 12 | 296 | 5 | 2.33 | .00 | 24.8 |
2018 | Deshaun Watson, Hou. | 16 | 260 | 34 | 1.63 | .31 | 24.8 |
2014 | Peyton Manning, Den. | 16 | 295 | -2 | 2.44 | .00 | 24.6 |
2014 | Drew Brees, N.O. | 16 | 310 | 4 | 2.06 | .06 | 24.5 |
2018 | Cam Newton, Car. | 14 | 243 | 35 | 1.71 | .29 | 24.5 |
2018 | Jared Goff, LAR | 16 | 293 | 7 | 2.00 | .13 | 24.5 |
2015 | Ben Roethlisberger, Pitt. | 11 | 324 | 3 | 1.64 | .00 | 24.3 |
2014 | Ben Roethlisberger, Pitt. | 16 | 310 | 2 | 2.00 | .00 | 24.0 |
2015 | Carson Palmer, Ariz. | 16 | 292 | 2 | 2.19 | .06 | 23.9 |
2018 | Drew Brees, N.O. | 15 | 266 | 1 | 2.13 | .27 | 23.7 |
2016 | Kirk Cousins, Wash. | 16 | 307 | 6 | 1.56 | .25 | 23.7 |
2014 | Russell Wilson, Sea. | 16 | 217 | 53 | 1.25 | .38 | 23.4 |
2018 | Mitchell Trubisky, Chi. | 14 | 230 | 30 | 1.71 | .21 | 23.2 |
2017 | Alex Smith, K.C. | 15 | 269 | 24 | 1.73 | .07 | 23.2 |
2018 | Baker Mayfield, Clev. | 13 | 271 | 10 | 2.08 | .00 | 23.0 |
2015 | Eli Manning, NYG | 16 | 277 | 4 | 2.19 | .00 | 23.0 |
—Ian Allan