Comparing the Carson Wentz and Matt Ryan trades at face value is irresponsible

At this point it’s obvious that football fans will find any excuse to rain on the Washington Commanders‘ parade.

Whether it’s ownership, the team’s deep-rooted instability at quarterback and FedEx Field not being the friendliest of confines, or a combination of the three, folks are seemingly always fishing for excuses to bash the Commanders.

They’re an easy target, sure, and shots are always welcome when justified. But lambasting the franchise when it’s uncalled for just for the sake of doing so because it’s “trendy” and what everyone is doing is arbitrary.

This time, Washington’s taking slings and arrows from NFL Twitter and the media (two entities that are rarely ever on the same page) after the Indianapolis Colts acquired Matt Ryan from the Atlanta Falcons for a third-round pick.

At face value, it looks like the Commanders got hosed. After all, Indy gave up less draft capital for Ryan, arguably a superior QB to Wentz at age-36, and will pay Ryan roughly $4 million less than what Washington owes Wentz this year.

This is the problem with taking everything at face value. Yes, the Colts got great value from Atlanta, but it’s not that black and white.

Comparing the Carson Wentz and Matt Ryan trades at face value is irresponsible.

Patience wins? You mean to tell us Colts general manager Chris Ballard can predict the future and foresaw Ryan and the Falcons breaking up even after they came up short in the Deshaun Watson sweepstakes? Come on. At the time Washington traded for Wentz, Watson had yet to appear before a grand jury, which decided not to indict him on the 22 civil lawsuits accusing him of sexual misconduct.

Only then did Ryan become available for trade.

Getting back to the trade compensation, it matters what the Commanders think of Wentz. After their godfather offer for Russell Wilson was scoffed at by Seattle, Ron Rivera and Co. pivoted to Wentz, whom they viewed as the best-of-the-rest (at the time!) in terms of available quarterbacks and struck a deal.

You also have to consider the QB’s respective ages. Wentz turned 29 in December, whereas Ryan will turn 37 in May.

A quarterback who’s yet to turn 30 and is coming off a season in which he threw 27 touchdowns to 7 interceptions was always going to cost more than a quarterback who has 1-2 seasons left and wasn’t very great the season prior.

While Wentz’s 2022 salary is greater than Ryan’s, there’s no long-term contractual risk. If the former Eagle and Colt underwhelms next season, the Commanders can cut him loose and save $26.17 million while incurring zero dead money.

Listen to voice of reason Torrey Smith.

And for anyone claiming Washington jumped the gun by trading for Wentz, what if they ended up without a QB? Do you really want to be in the Panthers’ situation right now? Who’s to say they would’ve signed Jameis Winston, who re-signed with the Saints, or Mitchell Trubisky, who has weapons galore in Pittsburgh?

Did the Commanders overpay for Wentz? Probably, but they had to. If they didn’t some other desperate team (maybe Carolina) would’ve gotten the Colts on the phone. The quarterback market has been as fluid as ever this offseason.

At the end of the day, Wentz has markedly more upside than Ryan and the Commanders pulled the trigger on him when the QB landscape looked desolate at best. Don’t blame them for getting their guy just because it preluded an unprecedented flurry of quarterback movement.