Why haven’t Commanders restructured Carson Wentz’s contract?

The Washington Commanders are hopeful they found immediate contributors in this week’s draft. Hamstrung financially following the Carson Wentz trade, the front office was very quiet in the initial waves of free agency.

Assuming most of their selections don’t start as rookies, the Commanders will presumably make more signings after the draft.

They already made one new addition in the form of veteran guard Trai Turner, leaving them with $10.8 million in cap space, per according to OverTheCap, and nearly half of that will be used to sign the 2022 draft class, so that number is misleading.

It helps that an extra $11.88 million will come off the books once Landon Collins’ release becomes official after June 1, but the Commanders could stand to create more wiggle room before the post-draft wave of free agency.

You might think Washington is out of options after they performed financial gymnastics following the Wentz trade, but Tom Brady continued to prove that even the most unlikeliest of contracts can be restructured to create cap space.

Why haven’t the Commanders done the same with Wentz?

Why haven’t the Commanders restructured Carson Wentz’s contract?

According to OverTheCap, Washington can save $18.17 million in cap room by restructuring Wentz’s contract. That doesn’t seem feasible, but maybe converting some of his $22 million base salary into a roster bonus would do the trick.

As things stand, Wentz’s $28.29 million cap hit for 2022 is the sixth-highest at the quarterback position. Only Ryan Tannehill, Patrick Mahomes, Kirk Cousins, Jared Goff and Aaron Rodgers have greater cap hits, respectively.

If you take a look around the NFL, a ton of big-name quarterbacks have lower-than-expected cap hits. From Matt Ryan ($18.7 million), Josh Allen ($16.37 million), Matt Stafford ($13.5 million), Tom Brady ($11.19 million) and Deshaun Watson ($10.002 million), you’re talking about five of the top 10 players at the position.

Having Wentz, whose play over the last few seasons suggests he belongs in the $15-20 million range of cap hits, on the books for $28 million is a terrible look considering the current state of Washington’s roster.

Reworking Wentz’s contract would also be beneficial from a PR standpoint.

Players, especially quarterbacks, always get praised for giving the green light to restructure their deals and Wentz taking one for his new team could help change the narrative that he’s a bad teammate and locker room leader.

It’s a win-win scenario for both the Commanders and their quarterback, who’ve done nothing but get eviscerated by the national media since the trade. We have no idea if it’s something Ron Rivera and Co. are considering, but we’re admittedly confused as to why it hasn’t happened yet.

Hopefully the Brady news served as a timely reminder.