Carson Wentz is shocked -- shocked, I tell you. The veteran quarterback is currently readying to take the field next NFL season for what will be his third team in as many seasons, after being traded to the Washington Commanders by the Indianapolis Colts in a move that preceded the latter striking a blockbuster deal to acquire former league MVP Matt Ryan from the Atlanta Falcons. But despite having been shipped out of Indy only one year after arriving -- owner Jim Irsay presuming Wentz would be reborn from a reunion with Frank Reich -- Wentz is still surprised at Irsay's take on it all.
Which is to say, after hearing Irsay call the 2021 trade a "mistake", and one that was "very obvious" the Colts had to move on from in 2022, Wentz was supposedly taken aback. Because despite a spectacular implosion by Wentz in a win-and-get-in scenario against the Jacksonville Jaguars in the regular season finale and the subsequent aforementioned trade to Washington, he was under the impression he and Irsay were all good.
Finding out he was very obviously wrong apparently stung a little.
"I mean, it is what it is, you know," Wentz told The Volume Sports. "Everyone's entitled to their own opinion. I thought last year was a really fun year. I thought we did some incredible things, came up short at the end. Obviously, I struggled down the stretch there and timing was poor."
Even with that admission, and on the heels of reports that indicate Irsay refused to take his calls at several points toward the end of the relationship, Wentz was still floored by the not-so-veiled insults.
"But yeah, I didn't expect that," said the former second-overall pick. "I didn't expect things to unfold the way they did and I thought things were in a pretty good place there. I had awesome relationships with every single person in that building. Can't say enough good things about the people over there.
"Yeah, it kinda came out of left field, you know? He's entitled to his own opinion and he's entitled to do what he wants with his football team."
It appears how Wentz viewed his time in Indy is in stark contrast to how others in the organization viewed it, and he'll now get yet another chance to prove he can be a starting quarterback in the league -- Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman going so far as to claim it might be Wentz's final shot to do so -- when he takes the field for the Commanders in 2022.