Carson Wentz Gone? Adam Schefter Weighs In

There has been a lot of smoke surrounding the departure of Carson Wentz. Adam Schefter weighs in.

Chris Mortensen reported during the Super Bowl that he expected the Indianapolis Colts to release or trade quarterback Carson Wentz by the deadline in March.

That has stirred up a lot of conversation with Colts fans and around the league. NFL Insider Adam Schefter backed Mortensen's report on Wednesday making it sound like just a matter of time before Wentz is sent packing.

Is Carson Wentz out in Indy and how did we get to this point? "When @mortreport says that he is expected to be traded or released by the deadline in March — then he will be traded or released and won't be the QB." ~ @AdamSchefter

Full episode with Adam ⤵https://t.co/B5xWcqkXjn pic.twitter.com/ZI9wfsw68n

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) February 23, 2022

"When Mort (Chris Mortensen) says that he's (Wentz) expected to be traded or released by the deadline in March, he will be traded or released by the deadline and won't be the quarterback any more," Schefter said on the Ari Meirov show.

"I have complete faith in Mort in that regard. Mort was the first to report that, and I believe Mort will be proven accurate on that particular point."

One year removed from sending their 2021 third-round pick and a conditional second-round pick that became first-round pick in 2022, it seems the Colts have seen enough of Wentz to know they don't want to see any more. 

On the surface it looks like Wentz had a season that wouldn't warrant such drastic action. Wentz went 9-8 as a starter with 3,563 yards, 27 touchdowns against only seven interceptions. 

His 94.6 quarterback rating put him above players like Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills and Mac Jones of the New England Patriots, but there's more to it than raw numbers.

"He had an uneven performance during the course of the year," said Schefter. "He started rocky with all the COVID/Vaccination stuff. Then he came on, he started playing well again." 

"Then it went south at the end; ending with a loss to Jacksonville."

Schefter understands the idea of moving on from Wentz, but has a question on the minds of many Colts fans... then what?

"Who's that guy?"

"So we're moving on from Carson Wentz... that's great no problem there. I got it."

"Is Sam Ehlinger the guy in Indy?" 

"Jacob Eason the guy in Indy?"

"Who's the guy? I don't know the answer to that right now."

The Colts first pick in the upcoming draft is 47th overall. The 2022 draft isn't considered to have a great group of quarterbacks, so getting a player like Desmond Ridder of Cincinnati in the second round may be safer than spending a would-be first-round pick on a player like Malik Willis of Liberty.

The Colts have a ton of salary cap space, $37 million before any moves are made with Wentz according to Spotrac, but Jameis Winston might be the top free agent quarterback in 2022. His record is spotty at best, not to mention he's coming off a serious-knee injury.

If it's not Wentz... who's the guy? 

Adam Schefter doesn't know the answer to that question, and the Colts have about five months to figure it out.