It appears the wait will go on for Carson Wentz.
Despite a report that the reigning Super Bowl champion Chiefs are said to have “a level of interest” in signing Wentz, the current plan is for Kansas City to stick with two quarterbacks — Patrick Mahomes and Blaine Gabbert — on the roster.
Still, any sort of NFL interest would count as a somewhat positive development for the 30-year-old Wentz, who remains without an NFL team with the season 10 days away.
“Yeah, so there’s a back pocket item because they signed Blaine Gabbert, they have Shane Buechele, so they feel pretty good about the backup quarterbacks,” Jeremy Fowler said on a recent episode of “SportsCenter,” according to On3.com.
“But Carson Wentz and the Chiefs did talk this offseason. There was some dialogue about Wentz potentially joining the Chiefs maybe down the road, or at least, you know, keeping that communication open.
“And I was told the Chiefs were fairly receptive to that idea. Certainly, they respect the talent. And I was told Wentz is open to getting to a championship-type team, getting into a new winning culture, where he can learn, you know, sit behind a Patrick Mahomes.”
But Kansas City decided they will use the extra roster spot for one of its younger players, the report said.
Wentz has fallen far in the eyes of league evaluators. When healthy last season, he bounced between starter and backup with the Commanders.
The Commanders then benched Wentz in their regular-season finale against the Cowboys in January, a 26-6 win at home which left them with a record of 8-8-1.
Rookie Sam Howell made his first start of the season in that game and is the Commanders’ QB1 heading into this season as Washington reset their quarterback room.
“I try not to play all those games in my head because you can drive yourself mad,” Wentz said after his final benching. “You start to think big picture — what’s next year; you think of careers you think of all these things.
“I try to hone it back in and say just be present, be positive. Next week will take care of itself. I try not to play all those things in my head, just be ready for what comes.”
Wentz started the first six games of the 2022 season, completing 144 of 232 passes for 1,489 yards, 10 touchdown passes and six interceptions.
In that time, the quarterback was also sacked 23 times, including nine against the Eagles in his first career game vs. Philadelphia.
The Eagles traded Wentz to Indianapolis in 2021, and he failed to establish a leadership role in the Colts locker room, which translated to his struggles on the field.
It resulted in Indianapolis trading him to the Commanders last offseason.
At the time, Colts owner Jim Irsay called Wentz’s stint in Indianapolis a “mistake,” and explained that it was “very obvious” the team needed to move on from the quarterback after missing the playoffs.
