Inside The Birds: Birds Want ‘More Than A First’ For Wentz

At this point, the question is when – not if – the Philadelphia Eagles are trading Carson Wentz, the quarterback they traded up twice to select No. 2 overall in 2016.

As reported by Inside The Birds last week, the Colts and Bears are front-runners to make a deal with the Eagles, unless another interested team swoops in as talks continue.

On the latest Inside The Birds, Geoff Mosher and Adam Caplan provide more details on the imminent Wentz trade and also discuss what the trade will mean for Jalen Hurts. They also have some new details on new defensive Jonathan Gannon’s scheme.

Howie Roseman wants at least two first-round picks for Carson Wentz.

Carson Wentz trade

Adam Caplan: “Wentz wants out. As much as they would like to keep him you don’t want a player who clearly wants out and will not be happy here. This is not a Deshaun Watson situation. It’s similar, but it’s different. This is a guy who doesn’t feel support. Carson doesn’t feel support from the organization, I’m told. It’s not just one particular thing, it’s several things that have happened over the last few years and he’s fed up with it.”

“He’s partially to be blamed for this. Wentz brought some of this on himself. It’s unfortunate, but both sides are to blame here.

Geoff Mosher: “Like I said before, I consider it a total organizational failure on so many levels, that so many individuals have a stake in here, but it’s gong to happen. They are going to be moving on, and oddly enough the whole ‘quarterback factory’ thing is going to wind up biting Howie Roseman in the ass even more because when all is said and done the only quarterback they’re going to have on the roster is Jalen Hurts. [Nate] Sudfeld, his contract is up, too.”

Adam Caplan: “As I understand it, the Bears are not interested in giving up two first round picks. They gave up two first round picks [in 2018] to get to get Khalil Mack and then some. They don’t want to do that. I kinda of laughed at the poeple who wanted to comapare the [Matthew] Stafford trade. Folks, Matthew Stafford is a proven NFL quarterback who’s never been benched. Carson Wentz may be a very talented quarterback, but he was benched. The Bears want the guy, that’s based on multiple sources. They want the guy, but I can’t see [Bears GM] Ryan Pace caving in here.”

Geoff Mosher: My sense from talking to some people is that other teams are involved. The Bears and Colts remain, from what I can tell they’re the strongest – as we wrote – and likeliest candidates, but I have heard there have been conversations with teams from both conferences.

“There are certain teams that lie to lay low and see what the market is like and hear the reports and try to get a feel for what it is, and then all of a sudden they like to come in at the end. I would not be surprised that if teams that are normally aggressive sneak in there. The Patriots tend to be like that, the Raiders can be like that at times. You just never know who’s going to get more desperate at the end and sweeten the pot at the last minute.”

“I’m not gonna put anything past Howie [Roseman]. He’s very good at trades, it’s what he does best, but I feel like the reason this has gone on … is because you’re trying to create interest, trying to create a market. I would be very surprised if the Eagles got two first-round picks. Because it would’ve been done already. “

Adam Caplan: “The term is clean. They’re not getting two clean first-round picks. They get two first rounders, they’re giving something back.

“[Raiders QB] Derek Carr is available. That’s my understanding. I wouldn’t say the Raiders are shopping him but if you want Derek Carr, who has two years left on his deal – I’m not saying the Eagles are interested in him, I’m talking about other teams – but if you want Derek Carr, go get him because he’s got two years left at no guaranteed money on his contract. He has a very tradable contract.”

“I asked a personnel director, ‘Hey, if this goes another week, what do you think?’ He’s like, ‘Then Howie hasn’t found what he wants.’ Because this would be over already. Everybody knows what’s going on. This isn’t a secret to anyone. They want more than a first that’s a fact. I just don’t know what he’s willing to take.’

Jalen Hurts

Adam Caplan: “We were shocked that he went in the second round. We had head from other teams [Hurts had] a third- or fourth-round grade. I was really impressed with his poise … under very difficult circumstances. He handled himself fairly well. Hurts is a coach’s son, he’s a pretty tough kid, hard worker. Hurts we know will be the starter this season. That’s not in doubt to me, but the question is: Will they bring in someone to compete with him?

Geoff: “I don’t know they’re going to bring somebody in to compete against him. Even though they didn’t draft him to be the starter, he is now and thy picked him higher than most teams that we spoke to had him graded, because they thought there was something there. I think they’d bring in a veteran, a good backup. We know they value the backup. I think they’re at least gonna bring in a veteran backup. I don’t think they’ll call it a competition. They might, but I don’t think it’ll really be one.”

Jonathan Gannon

Adam: “We know they’re going to run a 4-3, that’s not remotely in question. The question is: Are they going to run a wide 9? They may run a little bit of it, but that’s not their philosophy anymore. It’s going to be a 4-3 front and they’re going to be more of a read-and-react [style], which is totally different than just get upfield and wide 9. This thing will be different under Jonathan Gannon. There will be pre-snap disguise. There will be post-snap disguise.”

Listen to the latest “Inside The Birds” podcast from Geoff Mosher and Adam Caplan here: