"It didn’t really concern me" - When Carson Wentz made feelings clear on Eagles drafting Jalen Hurts as his successor

Carson Wentz was once the face of the Philadelphia Eagles. Having been drafted by the franchise second overall in 2016 after a monstrous multi-part trade-up, he looked like a shoo-in for MVP the following season - until he tore his ACL in the late part and could only watch as backup Nick Foles clinched the team's first-ever Super Bowl.

That began a psychomental decline in the quarterback, which only worsened when the organization drafted Jalen Hurts in the second round of the 2020 draft. But at the time of the decision, it was not apparent, as he said he was satisfied and happy with strengthening and rejuvenating the quarterback corps:

"It didn't really concern me... I know I had a feeling there was a chance we were going to draft somebody, just given the way our roster's laid out and trying to get younger and stuff."

That notion would be irreparably broken come Week 13, when Wentz was benched for Hurts during a 16-30 loss at the Green Bay Packers. At the time, he was leading the league in interceptions thrown (15), total turnovers (19), and sacks taken (50).

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Recapping Carson Wentz's post-Eagles career

At the start of the following league year, the Eagles decided to commit to Jalen Hurts. Consequently, they traded Carson Wentz to the Indianapolis Colts, who were looking for a QB1 after the consecutive retirements of Andrew Luck and Philip Rivers.

He managed to regain some of his form, throwing for 3,563 yards and 27 touchdowns against only seven interceptions, leading the team to a 9-6 record by Week 17. They needed to win just one of the next two games to return to the playoffs.

Instead, they lost both, with the second being an 11-26 humiliation at the woeful Jacksonville Jaguars. Amid subsequent revelations of intra-team turmoil, Wentz was traded to the Washington Commanders, with owner Jim Irsay calling his tenure "a mistake" that he could not wait to "fix. "

The 2022 season proved to be the death knell for Wentz's time as a starter. In Week 17 against the Cleveland Browns, with a playoff berth still mathematically possible, he performed poorly, throwing three interceptions in a 10-24 loss. He was released after the season and has since bounced around with the Los Angeles Rams and Kansas City Chiefs as a backup.