Former Eagles President Joe Banner is a fan of the Carson Wentz deal
Are you feeling unsure about Carson Wentz’s newest extension? Well, former Eagles’ president Joe Banner attempts to ease up the doubters.
The Philadelphia Eagles made a franchise-altering decision this past week as they locked in their franchise quarterback to a more significant deal. Eagles’ quarterback Carson Wentz was set to play out the final season of his rookie deal in 2019. For 2020, Wentz also had a fifth-year option, which the Eagles picked up a couple of months ago. In addition to this year and the next, Wentz also got himself a four-year extension, which keeps him in Philly for a total of six seasons.
Philly fans were supportive of the decision to lock in Wentz long-term for the most part. However, the injury history is still leaving doubt in the minds of some football fans. In 2017, Wentz tore his ACL, effectively ending his MVP campaign in year two. The following year, Wentz struggled to get past his ACL tear and overcompensated on his back, which led to a stress fracture.
Although the medical team did clear Wentz to play, the Eagles figured the risk was too big. Knowing they want him locked in at quarterback for the long haul, they decided to get one last squeeze out of Nick Foles before they knew they were going to move on. Now that Foles is out of the picture though, the Eagles felt comfortable with making Wentz $128 million richer.
Did the Eagles gift a reasonable contract?
Say what you want about the deal being expensive, but understand that in all reality, the Eagles did an excellent job of keeping the price tag reasonable. When you have your franchise quarterback, you pay him. And when a young quarterback is in search of a new deal, there’s a big chance they will exceed whoever’s contract broke a record last. Before Wentz’s deal, Russel Wilson had the highest guaranteed money in the NFL.
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Now, Wentz holds that crown. And guess what? Dak Prescott or Jared Goff will probably exceed Wentz’s guarantees in the coming weeks if they sign a new deal. That’s just the way it works. And if we can’t convince you that the Eagles front office did a stellar job with handling Carson Wentz’s newest extension, then maybe former Eagles President Joe Banner can.
Joe Banner’s opinion on the new deal
"“If you’re rooting for the Eagles you should be very, very, very happy. He could go out and tear his ACL tomorrow, there’s no scenario which he’s not making that 31 million dollars. So for an additional 35 million dollars—just think about that in today’s NFL—for an additional 35 million dollars, they control his rights for an extra four years. I mean that’s half of the guaranteed money Kahlil Mack got and I personally think this is perennial Pro Bowl, potentially Hall Of Fame quarterback, if he can stay healthy.”"
Again, the “if” factor plays a significant role for Carson Wentz. IF Wentz can stay healthy, he’s a potential MVP. This isn’t news to anybody, but the question mark for his health is always going to be there as long as he doesn’t emulate 2016 and finish out the entire season. The pressure from the Eagles’ organization isn’t on Wentz, as they already locked him in. However, the fans are going to be quite disappointed if Wentz regresses or even worse, gets injured in 2019.
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Positivity is key in this case, though. At the end of the day, the Eagles made it very clear that Wentz is their guy. Ever since his emotional injury and road to recovery in 2017, the team never gave up on him. Everybody sees the potential, former presidents included — and everybody believes he can be a star in the NFL for years to come. But this season, he just needs to get over that hump. Fortunately, if he does, the Eagles seemingly got a bargain for years to come.