Was that the end of the Carson Wentz saga?

A little over a week before the 2016 NFL Draft, the Philadelphia Eagles traded two first-round picks, a second-round pick, a third-round pick and a fourth-round pick to the Cleveland Browns to move up to the second overall spot so they could pick their quarterback of the future. 

That player was Carson Wentz, the 23-year-old, five-time FCS championship-winning quarterback from North Dakota State. That was nine and a half years ago … and buddy, it’s felt like a lifetime.

If nothing else, Carson Wentz was tough

Wentz has been a polarizing fella. He hasn’t always been good, but he has, for a time at least, been the best. He certainly hasn’t always been likable, but he has been the man. They say you either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain. Some people can come back from that villain arc, but it’s all circumstantial, and Wentz might’ve become one of those people.

The 2017 season was magical for the guy. He was clearly the best player in the NFL until that fateful day on December 10, 2017. With four minutes left in the third quarter against the Los Angeles Rams, the Eagles had a first and goal from the two-yard line. Wentz scrambled to his right and dove into the end zone while Mark Barron and Morgan Fox came in on both sides of his leg, obliterating his ACL. 

Wentz didn’t leave the game, though. He stayed in for four more plays and threw a touchdown to Alshon Jeffrey, which set Eagles’ single-season record at 33.

That scramble was a franchise-changing play for the Eagles, and a career-changing play for Wentz. He was never as explosive or dynamic ever again, but he was always incredibly tough, often to his detriment.

The Eagles ended up winning their first-ever Super Bowl that season on the back of a herculean postseason effort by Nick Foles, but going into the 2018 campaign, there was never a real quarterback controversy. Carson Wentz was going to be the Eagles' franchise quarterback whenever he was healthy. It’d be crazy for him not to be, because again, his 2017 season was unreal, and if he could get back to that level, the Eagles had a chance to turn their title into a dynasty.

He’d never recapture that magic, though. In 2018, he had stress fractures in his back, which hampered him throughout the season and eventually caused him to miss the end of the year and the playoffs. In 2019, he was healthy but constantly trying to play hero ball, and then he got concussed in a playoff game against the Seahawks. 

Then, in 2020, everything fell apart. The hero ball increased by a whole lot, and his effectiveness decreased by even more. There were stories about he and his teammates butting heads, about him not taking coaching well and only working on the parts of his game that he wanted to. That’s not a recipe, let alone a shopping list, for success.

The Eagles drafted Jalen Hurts in the second round of that year's draft. In Week 13, Wentz got benched, and the Hurts era began. It was definitely time for Wentz to go … and that’s exactly what happened. The Eagles traded him to the Colts for a conditional first-round pick, which directly led to the Eagles getting DeVonta Smith, A.J. Brown, Jalen Carter and Cooper DeJean. Hence that ACL-tearing scramble being a franchise-altering play.

In Indianapolis, Wentz hurt his foot in the preseason, had surgery and got healthy (enough) to play in the season opener. That level of health, once again, was in question because, once again, he got hurt during a Rams game. This time it was a double ankle sprain. He’d end up playing the entire season, but it was bad.

In 2022, he was traded to the Washington Commanders. He started the season with a win over the Jaguars. In that game, he threw for 313 yards and four touchdowns (and also two interceptions on back-to-back plays). That was the high point of his season. 

He’d end up losing four of the next five games, including a Week 3 loss to the Eagles where he was sacked nine times. He broke his finger in Week 6, went on injured reserve, lost his starting job and only really came back in relief of Taylor Heinicke. Halfway through the 2023 season, the Rams signed him to be Matthew Stafford’s backup. He only played in a meaningless Week 18 game that season. 

In 2024, the Chiefs picked him up to be Patrick Mahomes' backup. In 2016, Nick Foles reunited with Andy Reid in Kansas City, and it rekindled Foles’ love for football after it was sucked away from him when he played for the St. Louis Rams. But Wentz only played a handful of snaps in games that mattered, and then he ended the season playing poorly in another meaningless Week 18 game. He would end up making it to the Super Bowl and watch yet another one of his backup quarterbacks (Hurts) win, while Wentz sat on the bench.

Then this year, near the end of training camp, the Vikings signed Wentz to be J.J. McCarthy’s backup. Wentz has been the Vikings’ starting quarterback since Week 3 because McCarthy has either hurt, bad or both, depending on who you ask. That made Wentz the first quarterback in NFL history to start at quarterback for six different teams in six consecutive seasons.

On Thursday, October 23, the Vikings played the Chargers. Minnesota down both starting tackles and their starting center; even if he was healthy and playing well, Wentz didn’t stand a chance. Sure enough, he got hit. He got hit again. He smashed his hand on a helmet. He got hit again. He got hit some more … and Kevin O’Connell never took him out of the game. 

It went from, "Oh, Carson Wentz is just playing like Carson Wentz," to "he’s getting slaughtered out there. Why is he still in? Is this a personal vendetta? How bad is Max Brosmer? KOC’s got to get him out of there."

It was ugly and it was sad. The level of football that Carson Wentz has played over his career has varied, and it has varied big time. But the one thing that’s never changed is his toughness.

He’s played a little hurt, and he’s played just about as hurt as you could possibly be while still functioning. This game was just too far. The shoulder injury might’ve been to his non-throwing shoulder, but after every single throw he was wincing. After every hit he took (eight hits and five sacksin all), he was writhing in pain.

He ended the day going 15-of-27 for 144 yards, a touchdown and an interception. So, you know, on top of getting annihilated he also played terribly. Yes, the Vikings do have a mini-bye since that game was on a Thursday, but there is no possible way that Minnesota can rightfully (football-wise or on a human level) let Wentz start another game this season. 

If this is the end of the Carson Wentz era in the NFL, then it’s been a hell of a ride. The man directly helped bring the Eagles their first Super Bowl, and indirectly got them another one. He’s had chances to right his ship with multiple franchises, and he’s had to see the guys he’s played with win everything multiple times. 

He went from being the prince who was promised to weekday cannon fodder. If his career were a song, it’d be a ballad. If it were a story, it’d be a tragedy.