INDIANAPOLIS — A report released Sunday renewed conversation about whether or not the Indianapolis Colts will keep Carson Wentz around or if his time in Indianapolis will be short-lived.
A report from Chris Mortensen of ESPN says it'll likely be the latter. According to Mortensen, Wentz will probably be traded or released by March 18, when his full $22 million base salary would become guaranteed.
Wentz would also receive a $6.29 million bonus if he's still on the roster on March 18.
This makes it an even more difficult decision for the Colts because if they release Wentz prior to March 18, they would still have to pay him the $15 million base salary but they wouldn't have to pay the remaining $13.29 million of his contract.
For the Colts, the ideal choice would be to trade Wentz to a team that would take his full contract, transferring the nearly $29 million to the team that trades for him. But according to NBC Sports, it's unlikely that any team would take the contract as-is. It's more likely that Wentz, the Colts and another team would agree to a reworked contract.
Wentz threw for 3,563 yards and 27 touchdowns and he had seven interceptions in his first season in Indianapolis after the Colts acquired him in a trade with Philadelphia. The Colts traded a third-round pick in last year's NFL Draft, as well as a second-round pick in this year's draft, which became a first-rounder when Wentz took over 75% of Indy's snaps this season.
The team certainly wouldn't have given up those picks had they thought Wentz would only stay one season. But after Wentz's late-season slide and the team falling apart in the win-and-get-in game against Jacksonville in the season finale, it's not surprising why the Colts are considering moving on after failing to meet playoff expectations. Still, the Colts had previously said they're keeping their options open, so the question still stands, is the team willing to place their bets on Wentz to be the guy to lead this franchise to the Super Bowl?
