Let’s get to the Philadelphia Eagles links …
Will the Eagles end up having to trade Carson Wentz to Indianapolis because he doesn’t want to go to Chicago? – Inquirer
But an NFL management source with experience in such negotiations said he thinks the Bears are unlikely to trade for Wentz unless he is fully onboard; the source said he thinks it is more likely the Eagles will end up having to take whatever Indianapolis is offering, before the March 19 deadline that requires a $10 million Wentz bonus payment, because that is where Wentz wants to go. The source said he did not believe a report last week about Indianapolis offering two second-round picks plus another, lesser pick. The source said he thought the offer was one second-round pick, plus something else. The source said he doubts the Colts will hike their bid, because they probably don’t need to do so. Some observers think the Eagles could up the ante by packaging Wentz’s favorite target, tight end Zach Ertz, into a deal. Ertz was unhappy in 2020 after what he saw as a broken Eagles pledge to rework the five-year, $42.5 million contract he signed in 2016. Like Wentz, Ertz suffered through his worst pro season in 2020 — 36 catches for 335 yards and just one touchdown, from the player who set the franchise record for catches in a season with 116 in 2018. Ertz, 30, limited to 11 games last season by a high ankle sprain, has a year left on his deal, and trading him would incur $7,769,500 of dead cap money, according to Spotrac.com.
One NFL source thinks the Eagles will be forced to trade Carson Wentz to the Colts and then draft a quarterback at No. 6 – BGN
Reports indicate that the Chicago Bears have pushed harder to trade for Wentz than the Indianapolis Colts have. But if Wentz doesn’t want to go to the Windy City, which is understandable from a standpoint of Indy being more preferable, then it doesn’t seem like he’s going to end up visiting Lou Malnati’s anytime soon. Yes, the Eagles can trade him against his will … but are the Bears even submitting a real offer if they know Wentz doesn’t want to play in Chicago? And so if the Eagles are truly set on trading Wentz, as still appears to be the case, they’ll probably just have to take what the Colts are offering. Indy’s bid was previously reported to be two second-round picks, but I’ve heard things that make me believe the proposal might actually be even less lucrative than that. The Colts clearly only want to acquire Wentz at a price that matches their comfort level.
Carson Wentz has become the NFL’s biggest gamble – SB Nation
This leaves us with a giant conundrum. Carson Wentz has been statistically brilliant for three solid years of his career, and a dumpster fire in 2020. Conventional wisdom would say this means last season was an outlier, and there’s something to work with — but it carries a colossal risk. Wentz is on a contract that will make him the 4th highest paid quarterback in the league in 2021, with a cap hit of $34.7M. He will make more than Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes, or Russell Wilson. Framed this way the idea of taking a flier on a player who needs to be fixed is absolutely ridiculous, but the allure and the promise Wentz can return to form will be far too great for someone to pass up. Whether that’s the Bears, the Colts, or someone else, they will be going all in on a hand without even knowing the cards they’re holding. That should absolutely terrify any fan of a team interested in making a serious run at Wentz.
FROM THE SB NATION NFL SHOW: Could Foles and Sudfeld end up with Indy? – BGN Radio
The SB Nation NFL Show brings together the greatest fan-alysts from across SB Nation’s NFL team communities in one place for the first time ever. Expect deep analysis, irreverent jokes, and plenty of bickering between rivals. It’s a show for NFL fans, by NFL fans.
Rumor: If No Carson Wentz, Colts Could Pursue Sam Darnold or Look to Trade Up in the NFL Draft for QB – Stampede Blue
According to The MMQB’s Albert Breer on 97.5 The Fanatic’s ‘The Anthony Gargano Show’, if the Indianapolis Colts do not ultimately land Carson Wentz in a deal, the franchise still has other options this offseason—including potentially trading for the New York Jets’ Sam Darnold or for a top quarterback prospect in this April’s upcoming NFL Draft: “I don’t know the exact offer that the Colts have made is, but I can tell you that they’re going to be disciplined,” Breer said during the radio show on Wednesday. “And this isn’t the only quarterback solution that they’re looking at. I think they’ve got the flexibility now with where their roster is to potentially trade up in the draft in April to go up and get one. I think there’s a pretty decent chance that Sam Darnold is going to be available in three or four weeks—or sooner. So that would be another option out there for them.” “So, I don’t think the Colts are going into this, looking at it saying, ‘If we don’t get Carson Wentz, we’re up a creek.’ And remember this too, they know the good and bad of Carson Wentz. Yes, (Colts head coach) Frank Reich was close with Carson, when they were together in 2016 and 2017. And yes, (Colts senior offensive assistant) Press Taylor had a good relationship with Carson as well, but also sitting on that (Colts coaching) staff is Mike Groh, the (wide) receivers coach, and I don’t need to tell you guys where that relationship went over the last couple of years. So they are armed with all of the information, it’s not just the good of Carson Wentz, it’s the bad too.”
Assigning blame for each of the Eagles’ NFL-leading 65 sacks allowed in 2020 – PhillyVoice
The offensive line has been a top 5 unit in the NFL over the last half decade or so, but in 2020, injuries forced the team to have to play 14 different starting offensive line combinations. Guys who are borderline NFL players, like Jamon Brown or Sua Opeta, had to start games. Other players, like Matt Pryor and Jason Peters, played out of position and were exposed. But the line really wasn’t that bad in 2020. PFF had them ranked 19th, which isn’t great, of course, but it’s close to the league average. ESPN’s analytics, meanwhile, had the Eagles’ offensive line as the 11th best in “team pass block win rate.” They also ranked second-best in “run block win rate.” Those are obviously very good rankings. On the eye test, they got good play from Jason Kelce, Lane Johnson (when healthy), Isaac Seumalo, Jordan Mailata (later in the season), Nate Herbig, and Jack Driscoll. There were plenty of games in which the O-line protected the quarterback just fine. Even on the sacks they allowed, I found that most them weren’t of the “The QB had no chance” variety. In other words, the narrative that “no quarterback could have had success behind this line” is nonsense, in our view. […] Both Carson Wentz and Jalen Hurts were responsible for more than their share of the sacks taken in 2020. Eagles quarterbacks were responsible of 21.5 of the total tally, by our count, and they didn’t help on a bunch of others.
20 Eagles predictions for 2021 — not including an eventual Carson Wentz trade – The Athletic
6. Andre Dillard will start at left tackle. I heard Nick Sirianni emphasize competition. I also saw the Eagles trade three picks to move up in the 2019 draft to acquire Andre Dillard as the left tackle of the future. That wasn’t Sirianni’s trade, but that still matters. Jordan Mailata played well enough last season to earn the job. He’s younger. He even has more upside. But the Eagles made too big of an investment in Dillard to not even give him a chance. I don’t see Dillard relegated to reserve — especially because Mailata is more versatile and can be a swing tackle. Dillard will either be the starter or be traded. The Eagles didn’t draft Dillard in the first round to be a backup.
Nowhere To Go But … ? – Inside The Birds
But now, coming off the second-fewest wins of Lurie’s tenure and about to be left at the altar by their most nationally visible player, the Eagles head into this offseason prepared for at least one year of salary-cap hell, about to embark on major roster turnover, and with no certainty at the sport’s most important position. There’s also a first-time head coach who hired first-time coordinators, a general manager who’s reputation is spearheading three different head coach searches, and an owner who’s become more heavy-handed in decision-making. The Eagles must nail this April’s draft and hope better days are ahead for last year’s top-rookie trio of Jalen Reagor, Hurts and Davion Taylor. Sirianni needs to be the great communicator and paragon of command and presence that Lurie labeled him before fans observed otherwise at the coach’s introductory press conference. The Eagles enter 2021 at a major crossroads, hoping the path they’re navigating is the most fruitful one. But as Roseman once said, hope is not a strategy.
Predicting all 32 NFL teams’ starting quarterback for 2021: Who starts for the Jets, Pats, Bears and Colts? – ESPN+
Projected 2021 starter: Jalen Hurts. Hurts was the player I wasn’t sure whether to classify as a new or returning starter, as he started only the final four games for Philly in 2020. Alas, we’ll call him a returning starter with Carson Wentz now almost certain to be traded soon. Hurts infused energy into Philly’s offense and an added element of rushing — he had 238 rushing yards in his three full games as the starter — with the usual strides to make for any young quarterback; his accuracy will improve after he completed just 52% of his passes last season.
Darius Leonard explains why he came to Nick Sirianni’s defense – NBCSP
Leonard was a guest on the Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday and explained why he came to Sirianni’s defense last month: “I’m going to be real with you,” Leonard said. “With Nick, each Saturday night, offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator, special teams coordinator, they all get up there to talk in front of the team. You could tell people who love to talk in front of people, you could tell people who don’t love to talk in front of people. “Me and Nick, all three years, you know, Nick came up there and his crutch was every time he said something, he said ‘all right.’ So each night I counted how many times he said ‘all right’ and after that I said something to him. And it just kept getting shorter and shorter so he stopped using ‘all right.’
Brace yourself for another offensive player taken with the Cowboys 10th overall pick – Blogging The Boys
When pick 10 rolls around, there’s a reasonable chance that one of their top six ranked players is still available. This should make the war room extremely happy as once again it would mean they’d be getting remarkable value for their pick. Nobody has interest in drafting another wide receiver with Amari Cooper, CeeDee Lamb, and Michael Gallup on this roster already. Having a such a deep receiving group to go along with Blake Jarwin and Dalton Schultz doesn’t really make you want to go out and select Kyle Pitts. And the Cowboys certainly are not in the market for a quarterback, right? As much as none of those positions are anywhere on our wish list, it would be absolutely negligent to pass up on an elite talent to select an inferior player at a position of need. The Cowboys don’t have any control on what positions the new top talents play, and it just turns out that this year isn’t laced with elite defenders at the top. That’s an unfortunate break. But the Cowboys shouldn’t make it worse by settling. They just need to take the best player, be happy about getting a potential star, and then let everything sort itself out later.
NFL Daily Kickoff, Thursday- Steelers won’t commit to Ben Roethlisberger – The SB Nation NFL Show
In today’s episode, the Steelers continue to make it seem like they’d rather not have Ben Roethlisberger on their team next year, Jerry Jones is making money during the crisis in Texas, and the Jags make a smart uniform change, for once.
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