“Chicago is the front runner” in a Carson Wentz trade

Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated’s MMQB was a guest on Colin Cowherd’s The Herd earlier today, and he shared plenty of thoughts on the Carson Wentz trade talks with the Chicago Bears and Indianapolis Colts during his brief segment.

The Philadelphia Eagles still appear set to trade the former second overall pick in the 2016 draft, and according to Breer, “Chicago is the front runner.”

Breer goes on to say that he knows there’s a feeling from inside Halas Hall from GM Ryan Pace, head coach Matt Nagy, and passing game coordinator/QB coach John DeFilippo, that they all “believe that mechanically they can fix” what has gone wrong with Wentz the last couple of years.

Wentz was a legit MVP candidate in 2017 before going down with an injury, and his QB coach that year was the aforementioned DeFilippo who coached him both as a rookie in 2016 and in that Pro Bowl 2017 season.

Breer said that Wentz hasn’t always taken to hard coaching, and that during his time working with DeFilippo that Coach Flip was definitely the “bad cop” in that situation.

Even though Wentz doesn’t have a no-trade clause, it seems his preference is to go play for the Colts and his former offensive coordinator from ‘16 and ‘17, Colts head coach Frank Reich.

I wonder if Reich was the good cop in the development of Wentz those two years.

Breer again reiterated that “the Bears have pushed harder than the Colts,” and with Chicago offering the best return for the Eagles, it’s up the Philly to convince Wentz to accept playing in the Windy City.

From the player’s standpoint, choosing the stable Colts organization over Chicago’s head coach and GM possibly fighting for their jobs in 2021 is a no-brainer, but ultimately Wentz has no say in where he’s dealt.

But trading for a guy that may not be happy isn’t a smart way to enter a make-it-or-break-it season for Pace and Nagy, so Breer said that the “Bears would like to at least know that Carson Wentz is on board before pulling the trigger on a trade.”

I would assume at some point, if it hasn’t already happened, that the Bears would ask permission to speak with Wentz, just so they can gauge things for themselves.

The Albert Breer interview starts right around the 35 minute mark of hour number one if you want to hear the entire thing.