'What A Mess': Don Bell, Pat Gallen & Dan Koob Sound Off On Eagles Trading Carson Wentz To Colts
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Three seasons ago, the Philadelphia Eagles were on top of the world after defeating the New England Patriots in Super Bowl 52. Fast forward to 2021, the Eagles fired head coach Doug Pederson and have now traded what they thought was their franchise quarterback in Carson Wentz.
Wentz has now been reunited with former offensive coordinator Frank Reich in Indianapolis while the Eagles look to move on and rebuild.
How did we get here? CBS3 sports director Don Bell, sports reporter Pat Gallen and reporter Dan Koob share their takes.
DON BELL
It was only a matter of time. The only winner here is Wentz. He gets a fresh start, a coach he loves, a sturdy offensive line, skilled receivers and maintains his hefty salary. As for the Eagles, they hauled in subpar compensation and they're on the hook for an NFL record dead cap number. That's a loser if I've ever seen one.
Now for a deeper dive:
On a recent drive through Old City, I saw graffiti on the side of a building that read "Go home Carson, you punk *****." Wentz and his representatives mishandled this situation by feeding the press stories about his unhappiness after he was benched. From that moment forward, he lost the fanbase. He was a flaming hot dumpster fire last season and failed to fully take responsibility for his own play. Wentz's entitlement is bewildering.
However, I never underestimate the ability of management types to deceive and manipulate employees for their own gain. My bet is that Wentz was given some reassurances by GM Howie Roseman and the team and they failed to deliver.
The truth is Wentz's tenure here was on life support the moment green and white confetti fell from the sky in Minneapolis in 2018. From that moment on, he has been haunted by the ghost of Nick Foles. The statue of the Super Bowl MVP stands in front of the Linc. Wentz could have won three NFL MVP awards and still would have been considered a failure in this town without capturing the Lombardi Trophy. Toss in the fact that Roseman drafted Jalen Hurts with a second-round pick and it was curtains for Wentz.
The true irony is owner Jeffrey Lurie hired Doug Pederson for his "emotional intelligence." Years later, it's obvious the organization lacks any of it from top to bottom.
PAT GALLEN
My take: It is what it is. Wentz no longer wanted to be here, and frankly, his time here was over. He did not play well, anyone could see that. But the Eagles handled this situation poorly, too. Roseman and Company cannot be absolved.
That said, the Eagles got about as much as they could considering the circumstances.
The hope is they can recoup a first-round pick in 2022 (good), but they'll have to eat the big cap hit now (bad).
They move on from a sub-average quarterback with a lot of money due (good), but now move onto another unknown in Hurts or whoever they might draft at No. 6 (oh boy).
What a mess.
DAN KOOB
Puppet, meet master.
Shall we count the ways Howie Roseman lost leverage in this debacle?
Set aside the "Days of our Lives" way in which Wentz and the Eagles slighted each other for the past three seasons. Carson's team was a step ahead of Philly's front office from the moment the news "leaked" he was unhappy.
Ryan Tollner, Carson's agent, took the steering wheel. A little leak here (Carson might ask for a trade!) a little leak there (The trust is gone with Doug!) and the 4x4 mode was clicked on.
Once it became painfully obvious that only two of a possible 32 NFL teams had any interest in Wentz, the game was over.
Wentz sabotaged any sort of advantage Roseman may have perceived he had by undercutting additional offers outside of Indy. Almost as quickly as rumors circulated about a potential deal with the Chicago Bears, the underbelly of the internet began quaking that Carson had no interest in deep-dish pizza.
(Quick aside: Carson Wentz may be the only person ever to prefer Indy over Chicago in general. The city's nickname is literally "Nap Town")
Basically, Roseman had nothing left to do but try to convince the Colts to negotiate against themselves.
They didn't. Know why?
They're a better run front office.
After the Eagles season ended, Roseman said this about Wentz: "When you have players like that, they are like fingers on your hands. You can't even imagine that they are not part of you, that they are not here."
Bite down hard, Howie. Here goes.
