It’s not often a team talks about a former player the way the Indianapolis Colts have talked about former quarterback Carson Wentz. Wentz spent one season with the Colts before they traded him to the Washington Commanders in March.
Colts’ general manager Chris Ballard has spoken about Wentz multiple times. Indianapolis head coach Frank Reich — a Wentz supporter even after the trade — has spoken about the quarterback. And owner Jim Irsay has been the most outspoken, calling the Colts’ trade for Wentz last offseason “a mistake.”
Through it all, Wentz has handled a difficult situation with class. Last offseason, the Eagles gave up on Wentz, sending him to Indianapolis for multiple draft picks. Wentz put up good numbers with the Colts in 2021, but his performance in the regular-season finale against Jacksonville was terrible. However, it wasn’t just Wentz who played badly in Week 18; it was the entire team. But as the quarterback, Wentz takes most of the heat.
Wentz’s Week 18 performance isn’t why he’s no longer a Colt. Indianapolis made that decision long before the finale, and it likely had little to do with Wentz’s performance on the field.
.@cj_wentz responds to Jim Irsay calling the Colts-Wentz era a “mistake”
(via @manscaped) pic.twitter.com/rpT4oqRMvM
— The Volume (@TheVolumeSports) May 18, 2022
Wentz was recently a guest on the “Colin Cowherd Podcast” and discussed Irsay’s comments about it being a mistake for the Colts to trade for Wentz last offseason.
“I mean, it is what it is, you know. Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion,” Wentz said with a smile. “You know, I thought last year was a really fun year. I thought we did some incredible things, came up short at the end. Obviously, I struggled down the stretch there, and timing was poor. But yeah, I didn’t expect that. I didn’t expect things to unfold the way they did, and I thought things were in a pretty good place there.”
Again, Wentz handled a difficult question with class.
Wentz would refute some of the comments about his locker-room issues.
“I had awesome relationships with every single person in that building. Can’t say enough good things about the people over there,” Wentz said. “Yeah, it kinda came out of left field, you know? He’s entitled to his own opinion, and, you know, he’s entitled to do what he wants with his football team.”
For what it’s worth, some of the Colts’ top players, such as linebacker Darius Leonard, running back Jonathan Taylor, and wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr., publicly supported Wentz.
Here we go again! About to be 5 years with the Colts and 5 different QBs! Thank you Carson for everything this year my guy! Wish you nothing but the best!
— Darius Leonard (@dsleon45) March 9, 2022
It remains to be seen if Wentz can resurrect his once-promising career with Washington in 2022. Still, he’s undoubtedly handling himself well, considering how his former team can’t stop talking about him.