Carson Wentz is headed to the Washington Commanders after one disappointing season with the Indianapolis Colts. Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated Press
The Indianapolis Colts are moving on from Carson Wentz after one season, sending him to a team he’s familiar with from his days in the NFC East.
The Colts agreed to trade Wentz to the Washington Commanders, according to a person with direct knowledge of the situation. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Wednesday because the deal cannot be finalized until the start of the new league year next week.
Washington is getting the 47th pick in the draft along with Wentz and sending Indianapolis Nos. 42 and 73 this year and a 2023 conditional third-rounder that can become a second based on Wentz’s playing time, according to a different person with direct knowledge of the move. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the trade had not been announced.
Wentz, 29, has three years remaining on his contract with salary cap hits of $28.3, $26.2 and $27.2 million consecutively. The 2016 second overall pick of the Philadelphia Eagles spent just the 2021 season with Indianapolis, with the team going 9-8 and missing the playoffs.
Indianapolis Coach Frank Reich urged the Colts to acquire his former Eagles pupil 13 months ago and continued to support Wentz throughout the season and offseason.
“Stability is ideal, continuity is ideal, you long for that,” Reich said last week at the NFL’s annual scouting combine. “I believe in Carson. I stuck my neck out for him last year. I was a big part of that decision to get him here and I believe he’s going to have a lot of success as a quarterback whether that’s here or somewhere else.”
General Manager Chris Ballard was not convinced.
In January, after Indy lost its final two games to miss the playoffs, Ballard said he wanted to have a quarterback who could play 10 to 12 years, while acknowledging it doesn’t always work that way.
On the same day Reich spoke at the combine, Ballard told reporters he wanted a quarterback he believed could be a long-term solution – before quickly explaining his words were not intended to suggest he didn’t believe in Wentz.
“As a long-term answer for us, I’m just not there yet,” Ballard said. “You’ve got to be right (at quarterback) and even if you’re not right, you’ve got to keep firing away until you get it right. We’ve got to get it right.”
It’s unclear where Ballard and Reich will turn next.
Washington Coach Ron Rivera evidently does believe in Wentz. The move to acquire a former face of a division rival is the once-storied franchise’s latest attempt to shore up a quarterback situation that has been in flux for decades.
Washington has started 12 different QBs since acquiring veteran Alex Smith from Kansas City in 2018.
Adding Wentz likely relegates previous starter Taylor Heinicke to a competition with Kyle Allen for the backup job.
BRIAN FLORES wants the NFL to reject the Miami Dolphins’ request for an arbitration hearing regarding his class-action lawsuit against the team and the league alleging racist hiring practices.
Flores’ lawyer sent a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on Wednesday, urging him to turn down Miami’s request and have the case settled in court.
“Arbitration is not transparent,” attorney Douglas H. Wigdor wrote in his letter. “Indeed, arbitration is by its very nature a secretive process that takes place behind closed doors and outside of the public eye. The lack of transparency in arbitration only serves to continue the status quo – which in this case, is one that you have conceded must be fairly evaluated and potentially overhauled. That cannot happen in arbitration. In addition to being secret and confidential, it is a well-accepted fact that arbitration presents a barrier to justice for victims of discrimination and other misconduct.”
Flores, hired as a senior defensive assistant for the Pittsburgh Steelers last month, filed his lawsuit against the NFL, Dolphins, New York Giants and Denver Broncos following his dismissal by Miami. Flores led the Dolphins to consecutive winning seasons before he was fired in January.
“The claims that we filed involve important issues of systemic race discrimination and the integrity of NFL football games,” Flores said in a statement provided by his lawyer. “Unfortunately, the Dolphins and their attorneys, Quinn Emanuel and Paul Weiss, are trying to push the claims against the Dolphins into secret arbitration proceedings that lack transparency. There are currently ongoing legislative efforts to end forced arbitration for claims of race discrimination, which I fully support. I would hope that the NFL and Dolphins would also support those efforts. Commissioner Goodell now has a choice to make. Will he allow this case and future race discrimination claims to play out in a transparent and public legal process, or continue along the same unacceptable path?”
Flores’ lawsuit alleges the league has discriminated against him and other Black coaches for racial reasons, denying them positions as head coaches, offensive and defensive coordinators and quarterbacks coaches, as well as general managers. Flores also claims Miami offered him $100,000 per loss during his first season with the team in 2019 in an effort to receive a top draft pick.
The NFL has maintained the lawsuit is “without merit,” although Goodell said before the Super Bowl that “all of the allegations, whether they were based on racism or discrimination or the integrity of our game, all of those to me were very disturbing.”
The Dolphins requested the arbitration hearing last month.
RAVENS: Baltimore tackle Alejandro Villanueva is retiring.
The team announced his decision Wednesday. The Ravens also announced that they have re-signed defensive tackle Aaron Crawford and released cornerback Tavon Young.
Villanueva played six years with Pittsburgh before joining the Ravens last season. The two-time Pro Bowler started every game after his rookie year.
CARDINALS: Arizona released linebacker Jordan Hicks, freeing up salary-cap space.
The team will gain $6.5 million in cap room by cutting Hicks, who spent the last three years with the Cardinals after playing for Philadelphia from 2015-18.
Hicks had requested a trade a year ago, but was kept by Arizona and eventually beat out first-round draft pick Zaven Collins at inside linebacker. Hicks had a solid season in which he made 116 tackles, a career-best four sacks, seven tackles for loss, had five pass breakups and two fumble recoveries.
LIONS: Detroit signed wide receiver Josh Reynolds to a two-year contract.
General Manager Brad Holmes claimed Reynolds off waivers from Tennessee late in the 2021 season and he started in five of seven games with the Lions. He had 19 receptions, 306 yards and two touchdowns, reuniting in Detroit with former Los Angeles Rams quarterback Jared Goff.
PANTHERS: Carolina re-signed kicker Zane Gonzalez to a two-year contract after he helped solidify the position last season.
Gonzalez was set to become an unrestricted free agent next week.
Gonzalez joined the team in Week 2 and made 20 of 22 field-goal attempts, including 17 straight before sustaining a quadriceps injury during pregame warmups against the Buffalo Bills that ended his season. His 90.9% success rate was ninth-best in the league. He also made 22 of 23 extra points.
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