Wentz shot up draft boards for more than half the teams in the league with the showcase he put on at the Scouting Combine. The Browns, starved for any quarterback to guide them to some remoteness of success since Derek Anderson in 2007, seemed like a lock to select Wentz. Media outlets nationwide were reporting the Browns to be salivating at the chance to do so, once the Los Angeles Rams indicated they would be selecting California QB Jared Goff with the first pick...a pick they too traded the farm to acquire.
Just days before the draft, the Eagles dealt five picks (2016 R1, R2, R3; 2017 R1; 2018 R2) to Cleveland to draft the North Dakota State project, who led the Bison to the two most recent of their five consecutive Division I-AA championships. For the record, I will forever refuse to call it FCS.
After trading the second- and third-round picks they received from the Eagles to Oakland, the Browns used these picks to select three wide receivers (Corey Coleman R1-15, Ricardo Lewis R4-114, and Jordan Payton R5-154). All three receivers made the Browns’ 53-man roster.
Wentz is poised to be the Eagles QB of the future. At 6’5”, 237 lbs., Wentz was the most “pro-ready” QB in the draft by many experts. The only problem was Philadelphia had already traded with the Rams to acquire QB Sam Bradford the previous year, and followed that up with a two-year, $36 million extension on March 1 of this year...just six weeks before the draft. Immediate speculation abounded as to whether Wentz would be a project to sit behind Bradford and Chase Daniel (a la Aaron Rodgers and Brett Favre), or would Bradford be dealt. Would the Browns want Bradford as a stop-gap given his history of season-ending injuries?
Bradford decided to celebrate the impending Eagles selection of Wentz by publically stating on April 25--three days before the draft--he would not attend any of the team’s offseason activities prior to training camp. Bradford changed his tune the following month.
We all know the preseason is too long, and at least one of the league’s marquee players are lost for the season in training camp. This time the victim is Minnesota Vikings QB Teddy Bridgewater, who blew out many of the acronymed ligaments in his knee (including dislocation of the joint) in a non-contact drill a week ago today.
Now, this is where the irony becomes downright strange.
The Eagles traded Bradford to the Vikings (in exchange for Minnesota’s first-round pick in 2017) as a replacement for Bridgewater over the weekend. Bradford will start ahead of Shaun Hill. Hill finished up the 2014 season in St. Louis after Bradford ruptured his ACL in Week 7.
Wentz suffered a rib injury in the Eagles’ first preseason game, but will recover in time for their season-opener on Sunday. This means Wentz will now start his first NFL game on Sunday against the team who did not think highly enough to draft him...the Cleveland Browns.
Philadelphia’s new head coach is Doug Pederson, who played in 11 games for the Browns in 2000, throwing two touchdowns against eight interceptions. Pederson did have a single 300-yard passing game near the end of that season, against...you guessed it...the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles won 35-24 on December 10, 2000.
So Philadelphia, who is likely to finish at-or-near the bottom of the NFC East this season, gave the Browns a second top-10 selection for next year. Rumors have already started swirling that Cleveland may acquire a third first-round pick by dealing OT Joe Thomas to a playoff contender later in the season. The 2017 NFL Draft takes place April 27-29….in Philadelphia.
The Browns used 14 picks in this year’s draft to fill many of their needs. The new Browns’ regime likely took much joy in crippling Philadelphia’s rebuilding project, stripping the Eagles of high-round draft picks that would likely be starters within the next 2-3 years. Early projects have the Browns trying to fill their next “QB of the future” in 2017 with Clemson’s Deshaun Watson, Mississippi’s Chad Kelly, or an anomaly who can shoot up a draft board like Wentz did earlier this year.
Meanwhile, Philadelphia is trotting out a rookie head coach, rookie QB, and will likely burn out RB Ryan Matthews by the trading deadline.
Do you think Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie will pony-up enough cash to rent the Popemobile for Santa Claus by the time he comes through late in the season? Or will he need it more for himself?
Please note: Not one Browns draft pick was sacrificed in the writing of this column.
-JC24