Eagles are going forward, officially, with Carson Wentz

There’s no surprise in the headline. The Philadelphia Eagles traded a boatload of draft picks back three years ago to move up and acquire the second-overall selection in the 2016 NFL Draft. The choice ended up being Carson Wentz.

Carson Wentz, 26, has been terrific when on the field. After an inconsistent yet promising rookie campaign, Wentz was on his way to being the league’s MVP in 2017 before tearing his ACL in December against the Los Angeles Rams. For the top-seeded Eagles, it appeared all hope was lost. Then, Nick Foles led them to their first Super Bowl title in franchise history.

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Fast forward to Wednesday. After another season that ended with Foles replacing an injured Wentz and Philadelphia winning in the postseason, general manager Howie Roseman declared that the Eagles would not retain Foles. This was a business decision. Philadelphia originally tried to control his rights, but when Foles gave back $2 million to void his deal, the Eagles had to either apply a franchise tag in excess of $25 million or let him walk if they couldn’t find a trade partner. They couldn’t, and now they will.

Foles is going to hit the market with a litany of suitors. The Jacksonville Jaguars are the odds-on favorites, while the NFC East-rival New York Giants certainly make plenty of sense.

However, this isn’t about Foles for Philadelphia. It’s about pushing all the chips into the middle of the table — like it or not — with Wentz.

Wentz has seen the season come to a close twice now with him standing on the sidelines in a hoodie. Philadelphia has survived and thrived in those situations because of Foles, perhaps the best backup quarterback in recent memory across the league. Now, Foles is going to be elsewhere, leaving the job — at the moment — to Nate Sudfeld. Not exactly the same safety net.

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Wentz has shown that when healthy, he’s capable of being one of the marquee faces of the league. His arm is tremendous, he has great pocket awareness and his mobility is underrated after post knee surgery. However, there are real questions about whether he can consistently stay on the field. If he can’t, the Eagles are in a massive bind.

Philadelphia is hoping to continually compete behind Wentz. The hope is that he stays healthy, Roseman can continue bringing in a quality supporting cast through free agency and the draft, and the 2017 title isn’t the only one in the Carson Wentz era.

Of course, there are many hurdles to clear on the way to that goal. Chief among them? Wentz’s durability.