It boggles my mind how media and fans talk about Wentz and Pederson when the reality is that both guys were set up to fail by Howie Roseman.
As a lifelong Eagles fan, it pains me to watch the direction this organization is heading. Philly fans are used to team devolution, including the Phillies and 76ers recent failures.
Regardless, the Eagles decided to fire head coach Doug Pederson and have traded Carson Wentz to the Colts. All the “baggage” has been removed, and it’s time for the Eagles to look forward to Coach Nick Sirianni and quarterback Jalen Hurts.
But how does a Super Bowl-winning team fall this far this fast? The simple answer is Executive VP and GM Howie Roseman.
Let us look back at Wentz’s time in Philly and his relationship with Doug Pederson. In the 2017 season, Wentz led the team to a 10-2 start with MVP numbers before tearing his ACL in Week 14 against the Rams. Nick Foles came in, and the team won an epic Super Bowl in a shootout with Tom Brady.
People need to remember that this happened only four years ago. Pederson could have easily decided to keep Foles as his starer, which would have been a decision that most of the media and fans would have favored. But Pederson stuck with Wentz.
A similar situation happened in 2018 when Foles took over in the playoffs and almost won the NFC Divisional Round against the Saints. The Saints had beaten the Eagles 48-7 earlier that season. Again, Pederson and the organization stuck with Wentz. In 2019, Wentz put up 4000 yards, 27 TD, and eight interceptions with an offense destroyed with injuries and a receiving core of merely all practice squad players. In the playoff game, Wentz suffered a concussion, which ended his season and finished off the Eagles.
Courtesy: The Inquisitr
Then came 2020. Before the season started, the Eagles lost Brandon Brooks and Andre Dillard, and (as a result) Wentz would become the most pressured quarterback in the NFL. With Desean Jackson and Alshon Jeffrey battling injuries, no one knew who the wide receivers would be. To make matters worse, Zach Ertz was frustrated with upper management, and it looked like that issue was taking a toll on his playing.
Ertz and Dallas Goedert also missed a lot of time due to injury, and 1st rounder Jalen Reagor missed the beginning of the season. Pressured and without a solid and reliable receiving corps, a disaster was in the making.
Rumors had it that Pederson wanted to start Hurts, but management made him stick with Wentz. But if upper management wanted Doug to stick with Wentz, why give up on him and trade him after one bad season with zero supporting casts? None of this makes any sense.
I believe Doug Pederson. He was being told to start Hurts. Pederson didn’t budge for weeks. Through Wentz’s struggles, Pederson kept him as the starter, just as he had done in the past. Wentz was always his guy, and it was clear as day.
So, after a failed 2020 season, the Eagles fire the coach who led them to the playoffs the previous three years and a Super Bowl win in his second season, and they trade their franchise quarterback.
Pederson and Wentz become scapegoats.
What now? I’m not going to throw in the towel on Hurts because he is young and talented. But I am going to blame Roseman. @JackFritzWIP on Twitter nailed it when he tweeted, “Howie Roseman has: Gotten to hire 4 new coaches, has now eaten the highest dead cap money in NFL history, won battles over Andy and Joe Banner, has drafted poorly, and now has the team in cap hell. Somehow he is safe.”
It boggles my mind how media and fans talk about Wentz and Pederson when the reality is that both guys were set up to fail by Howie Roseman. The answer? The best thing the Eagles could do right now is to fire Roseman.
