The Colts' Trade For Carson Wentz Was an All-Time Bust

The Indianapolis Colts made it clear they wanted Carson Wentz off their roster. On Wednesday, they officially made that a reality, shipping him to the Washington Commanders in an exchange of draft picks. That deal came a year after they gave up a ton to acquire Wentz in what can now be viewed as a complete bust of a trade.

Last March, the Colts acquired Wentz and sent the Philadelphia Eagles third-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft and what became a first-rounder in the 2022 draft. For those picks they got a guy who was apparently an awful leader, made horrific decisions with the football and was generally disliked.

Bang up job, guys!

From a statistical perspective, Wentz wasn't horrific. He completed 62.4 percent of his passes for 3,563 yards, with 27 touchdowns and seven interceptions. His passer rating was a pedestrian 94.6 and his QBR of 54.7 ranked ninth in the NFL. He was wholly average. But if you actually watched him play, it was clear he actively hurt the team.

That was perhaps most exemplified by his performance in the season's final week. The Colts just needed to beat the lowly Jacksonville Jaguars to secure a playoff berth. Wentz went 17 of 29 for 185 yards, with a touchdown and an interception. His QBR for the game was 4.3. That's not a typo. Indianapolis lost 26-11 and missed the postseason.

Reminder: for that, the Colts gave up their 2022 first-round pick and a third in 2021.

The Colts did recoup some value by trading Wentz and removed his $28.2 million cap hit from their books. They'll get a third-round pick in 2022 and a third-rounder in 2023 that could become a second-rounder if Wentz plays 70 percent of Washington's snaps. They also swapped second-round picks with the Commanders this year. Still, they're out their first-rounder this year.

The move to acquire Wentz was a complete bust and now the Colts have gotten out of the deal as quickly as they could.