There was a time when Carson Wentz was the Philadelphia Eagles‘ franchise quarterback. He was even on track to receive some MVP votes until the franchise quickly soured on him following a string of challenges. Sound familiar?
The Eagles have another franchise quarterback who often finds himself in the MVP conversation. Today, it seems hard to fathom that the Eagles would have any thoughts about moving on from Jalen Hurts any time soon.
Yet, that’s what they said about Wentz too, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft. He was gone after just five seasons. Meanwhile, Hurts is in his sixth season with the Birds, but some are starting to wonder whether he’ll even make it to Year 7 in Philadelphia.
Specifically, longtime Eagles insider Derrick Gunn’s appearance on The Seth Joyner Show peeled back part of the curtain. The most interesting part? When Gunn called the Eagles’ QB situation “Carson Wentz 2.0.”
“Those things that [get] dissected on film [and] during practice, those things that are talked about among the quarterback coach, the offensive coordinator, the head coach, it has been constantly discussed all season long. Yet, when they transition to the field on a football game, [Hurts] plays his game. Not the game the coaches want him to play. He plays his game. I don’t think you can get out of that mode at this particular point. I think it’s what we’re going to have to watch all season long, is him playing his game.”
Derrick Gunn on Jalen Hurts
Specifically, his teammates and members of the coaching staff have grown “frustrated” with how Hurts operates. Funnily enough, this isn’t the first time we’ve heard about the Eagles being “frustrated” with their franchise QB this month.
Related: Philadelphia Eagles ‘Frustrated’ With Jalen Hurts
“It’s frustrating in a lot of ways, to the coaching staff. And to the players. Extremely frustrating to the players. Because when they look at the film, the next day or a few days later, they see what’s available out there and what should’ve happened, and it didn’t happen, it’s frustrating to them as well. . . . I’m just basically telling you there’s a lot of people in that organization that are frustrated with the quarterback situation right now. But the quarterback understands he has them over a barrel. This is almost Carson Wentz part two. They’re not going to eat this kind of money yet.”
Carson Wentz 2.0 sounds pretty alarming. Hurts is in Year 2 of a five-year, $255 million contract with the Eagles. Philadelphia would incur a $32.6 million dead cap charge if he’s traded before June 1. That’s reasonable enough to consider a change if Howie Roseman is motivated enough.
Yet, the Eagles are high on Tanner McKee. But whether they think highly enough to turn the keys of the franchise over to the 2023 sixth-round pick seems hard to fathom.
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