Ranking potential Carson Wentz landing spots after Commanders release
By Hunter Noll
Most likely teams to give Carson Wentz a call
These teams could already be talking internally about giving Carson Wentz a shot. Nothing is set in stone, but they have the strangest situations at quarterback and it wouldn’t hurt for them to at least consider bringing him in. Surprisingly to some, this is the longest list
The New York Jets drafted Zach Wilson two years ago, but wow did that crash and burn quickly or what? Mike White has had his moments, and maybe you let him try to lead the team for a season. Joe Flacco is also on the roster but is now 38. The team is either going to draft a QB or sign a veteran. Maybe both. Wentz is a good guy to take a flyer on if you want someone to compete for a starting spot for a year.
The Houston Texans need to do something. Davis Mills isn’t terrible, but clearly, he isn’t going to lead the team anywhere. With that in mind, it seems like a no-brainer that Houston will draft a quarterback this offseason. Even with that, some extra depth wouldn’t help. Wentz at the very least would be competitive with Mills and could be the veteran backup.
The Carolina Panthers will likely be going with Matt Corral this season after he missed his entire rookie year due to injury. They’ll want a veteran backup they can trust should things turn sour though (and someone to help Corral learn). That “veteran” likely isn’t on the roster right now.
The New Orleans Saints don’t want to give Jameis Winston a fair shot for whatever reason. Outside of that, they have Andy Dalton and Jake Luton. We won’t pretend like Wentz doesn’t have his faults, but he would be an upgrade over (will be 36-year-old) Dalton.
The Atlanta Falcons should be excited about what they saw from Desmond Ridder in 2022. Even if it was an extremely small sample size, he knocked it out of the park. However, this team is in an even worse position than the Bears when it comes to backups. Marcus Mariota is gone and the only other QB on the team is Logan Woodside. Woodside has three career pass attempts. They’ll want to bring in a veteran, why not Wentz?
To this point, these sections weren’t ranked. No team in any section was seen as “more or less likely” than any other team. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have to top this list though. Tom Brady is gone. They don’t have a top draft pick (19th overall). And the only two quarterbacks on the roster are Blaine Gabbert and Kyle Trask. Trask is 3-for-9 in his career, and Gabbert has nearly as many interceptions (47) than touchdown passes (51) in his career.
Even if they end up drafting someone, it’s hard to see the Bucs not wanting to bring in a “solid” veteran. It’s the perfect situation for Carson Wentz too, as this is a team that he would have a legitimate chance of starting for.