Last week, one might have thought the Eagles organization could not become more dysfunctional. Sadly, it did. The belief is that Carson Wentz will be traded away; this is one of the most franchise-changing moves in the NFL right now, and one of the biggest moves in Eagles history. An investment of 5 draft picks and $128 million dollars will be gone in a matter of days. 

Within the last 4 years, Wentz has been both at his highest and lowest level of players. Deciding whether to keep this type of player is hard itself. But there is so much interest in Wentz, and Lurie brought many members of the Colts coaching staff to Philadelphia. The reason for that seemed to have been Wentz.

Nonetheless, reports come out weekly saying “Wentz wants to leave,” or “he will be traded in the coming days,” which leaves Eagles fans feeling genuinely confused. In the wild offseason that has already included the firing of Super Bowl winning head coach Doug Pederson, the saga of drama continues. 3 years ago, Eagles fans witnessed him almost win the MVP award. That level of play has since gone down, but the team cannot give up on finding it again so easily. Bringing in some of the best young minds to fix his issues. This is a lot easier to do than fans might realize. 

Because of this, it’s often forgotten that Carson has all the innate ability to be great and has the ability to fix his issues with his new coaches. Head coach Nick Sirianni has experience with turning QBs into their old selves. New offensive coordinator Shane Steichen just spent a full season working with one of the most impressive young QBs: Justin Herbert.

The tools to fix his fundamental issues are there, and with the right amount of patience he might become a franchise quarterback again. He cannot just be traded, he has all the intangibles. Players as athletically talented as Wentz do not come around often. There is just so much ability and football left to play for him. 

Let’s not forget what Wentz has dealt the past three seasons. His offensive line has dealt with constant injuries, he has dealt with one of the worst receiving corps in the league, almost everyone around him is either aging or a failed draft pick. Wentz is 11th all-time in TD-INT ratio, ahead of players like Andrew Luck, Matt Ryan, Peyton Manning, and so many other great NFL QBs. One season cannot be the definition for Wentz. In Manning’s first 5 seasons, he had 100 interceptions. Wentz has just half that in his first 5 seasons. Do not let 12 bad games blind for from the 56 previous games. Still, there are key things to look at.

Analyzing film from last season, there were 2 main issues with his level of play: his fundamental mechanics and his hero ball mentality.

With an entirely new coaching staff, mechanical lapses should be the point of emphasis for fixing Wentz. On certain plays, but most notably on out routes to his left, Wentz’s body movements are not fluid nor precise. He has tendencies with overstriding, taking away from his hip movement. Hip movement is one of the biggest factors in both throw power and throw accuracy. His front foot does not always point directly to where he wants to throw. 

Both of these issues can easily be fixed. So many new coaches will be bringing new experiences and lessons to Wentz. While they can not solely determine how it affects him. He has all of this, and now a full offseason.

But the hero ball mentality is the bigger key, and rightfully, this issue seems harder to fix. Constant injuries, bad chemistry and declining players combine into Wentz trying to overcompensate for his level of play. The Eagles, however, have the now fully healthy Dallas Goedert, higher usage for Miles Sanders, and a chance at drafting Ja’Marr Chase (LSU). OTAs will be extremely important in developing these issues, but with a few minor enhancements, it will also be fixed.

One more thing to consider is trade value. Can the Eagles really get what they want from a trade? 2 first round picks is a pretty steep price in most trades, and from all reports, teams do not seem willing to pay that. Is it worth trading Wentz for a couple of second rounders, or would the Eagles rather keep him in that situation. It’s a tough call to make

If there is one takeaway from the all trade rumors, it’s this: if all of these teams have faith and confidence that they can fix Wentz, what’s to say the Eagles cannot do the same?