The Indianapolis Colts decided the Carson Wentz era didn’t need to last longer than one year. After acquiring the well-traveled signal in a trade last offseason, Indianapolis decided to send him to the Washington Commanders on Wednesday with a collection of draft picks making their way back to the Colts.
While Wentz put up fine numbers in his one year with the team, Indianapolis only went 9-8 and did not make the playoffs, in large part because the team lost to the Jacksonville Jaguars in the final week of the season. Now, in a new piece by Zak Keefer of The Athletic, details are coming out about the Wentz era, with the quarterback displaying “a lack of leadership, a resistance to hard coaching and a reckless style of play.”
Perhaps the most damning indication is how Colts coach Frank Reich responded to his being on the team. Reich was Wentz’s offensive coordinator in Philadelphia and advocated for bringing him on board, but according to Keefer, Reich was willing to say to owner Jim Irsay that things did not work out like he thought.
Reich, who originally pushed for the trade to acquire Wentz last winter, apologized to Irsay after the season, according to a source. The coach believed he could resurrect Wentz’s stalled career and solve the Colts’ quarterback conundrum.
“I stuck my neck out for him last year,” Reich admitted earlier this month.
Now, Wentz will try to jumpstart his his career in the nation’s capital, while the Colts will hope their next big name quarterback acquisition can justify getting at least two years in town.
