National Football League

Washington Commanders confident in Carson Wentz despite the doubters

Updated Sep. 8, 2022 3:49 p.m. ET

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By Ralph Vacchiano
FOX Sports NFC East Writer

When the wildest quarterback carousel in NFL history started spinning this offseason, Commanders GM Martin Mayhew grabbed on with both hands. He was determined to find a franchise quarterback. He looked under every proverbial rock to find one he liked.

The Commanders were in on the Deshaun Watson sweepstakes. They reportedly made a huge offer for Russell Wilson. They even were supposedly interested in Matt Ryan. And they did all that while scouting the best quarterbacks in the draft.

When the spinning stopped, they were left with standing with Carson Wentz, and all the baggage that came with him. They looked to many like the losers of the offseason Quarterback Derby.

Yet the Commanders seem pretty confident their trade for Wentz was a win.

"He has stabilized that position for us," Mayhew said last week. "And we're excited about what he brings to the table in terms of his physical talent and also what he brings to the table as a person, as a leader."

"I look at our quarterback room," Mayhew added, "and I think it's been upgraded pretty significantly."

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That remains to be seen, but there's a chance he's right, considering what the Commanders have gone through in that room in recent years. They've started six different quarterbacks in Ron Rivera's first two seasons as head coach. And since Kirk Cousins left after 2017, there have been a remarkable 10 different starting quarterbacks in Washington in just four years.

Wentz is erratic, but he can play. He has a very strong arm, good presence in the pocket and has been pretty accurate over his career. Even last year, which was generally regarded as a down season for him, he completed 62.4% of his passes with 27 touchdowns and just seven interceptions — though the Colts sure could've used a little more from him during two end-of-season losses to the Raiders and Jaguars that kept them out of the playoffs.

But Wentz's baggage has always been about more than what happens on the field. He wasn't exactly beloved in Philadelphia despite leading the Eagles to an 11-2 record in his second season, before he got hurt and Nick Foles took over to finish the Eagles' run to a Super Bowl title. Near the end of his tenure, Wentz was being ripped publicly by anonymous teammates for his lack of leadership, his personality and his resistance to do everything the coaching staff wanted him to do.

All of that surfaced again last year in Indianapolis, where he played for Frank Reich, his former offensive coordinator in Philly, and for an organization desperate to find a franchise quarterback in the wake of the retirement of Andrew Luck. Wentz played well again, but he drew criticism for everything from his decisions on the field, to his refusal to get the COVID vaccine, to his failure to click with his new teammates — again.

When it was over, he was publicly excoriated by Colts owner Jim Irsay, who called the brief Wentz Era "a mistake."

Yes, the Commanders heard all that about Wentz before they traded for him and the $28 million salary-cap hit he carries this season. But now that they've seen him up close for six months, they don't understand his critics at all.

"You watch him, and he's just so natural with everybody," Rivera said on FS1's "The Carton Show." "It's one of those things that you just wonder, ‘What's people's end game? What are they trying to get to as far as he's concerned?'

"Because the dude's been nothing but solid, relates pretty doggone well to his teammates and his coaches. So I'm just really struggling with some of the things that are coming out."

There's always the chance that Rivera will see it over time. People are who they are, and if Wentz is everything his critics claim, issues will manifest. The Commanders won't owe him any guaranteed money after this season, so if Wentz ends up proving his critics right, they can very easily move on next year.

But he's such an upgrade talent-wise over what they had, it really wasn't much of a gamble for the Commanders — at least, they don't think it was. The deal essentially cost them two third-round picks. They avoided the circus that would have come with trading for Watson, who was accused of sexual misconduct by dozens of women and will serve a suspension for the first 11 games of the year. At 29, Wentz is eight years younger than Ryan. And he's a lot more talented than Taylor Heinicke, last year's Washington starter. 

Sure, the Commanders could have started over with a rookie. But they're in a position where they really have to start winning now. Rivera went 14-19 in his first two seasons, and even though he's only in year three of a five-year contract, who knows how much more patience the embattled Snyders will have? They also have loaded up on offense, re-signing receiver Terry McLaurin, building a strong running back group led by Antonio Gibson, and adding them to a group of other weapons that includes receiver Curtis Samuel, rookie receiver Jahan Dotson and tight end Logan Thomas.

The missing piece was the quarterback. And the Commanders think they've found one, despite the baggage he brought.

"We did our due diligence, and Carson was the guy that we had consensus on," Mayhew said. "We all felt great about him, and we're excited that we have him." 

"When you listen to his teammates, they all say positive things about who he is and who he was in the locker room, and it's the same thing here," Rivera insisted. "He's been nothing but positive. He's supportive of his teammates. The dude accepts responsibility. … It's not anything that's been where you get there and go, ‘Dang, what's wrong with this dude?'"

Not yet. And maybe not ever. The Commanders will find out soon enough. For now, they're willing to take the risk because they're sure they have the best quarterback they've had in Washington in at least five years — maybe even longer.

They understand that the Eagles were glad to get rid of him, and that Irsay thinks the Colts' decision to trade for Wentz was "a mistake."

The Commanders believe that Wentz will prove that the real mistake was those teams letting him go.

Ralph Vacchiano is the NFC East reporter for FOX Sports, covering the Washington Commanders, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants. He spent the previous six years covering the Giants and the Jets for SNY TV in New York, and before that he spent 16 years covering the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. A Long Island, N.Y. native and graduate of Syracuse University, he can be found on Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.

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Ralph Vacchiano