Eagles’ Former 33-TD Quarterback Lands Deal With Chiefs

Jalen Hurts’ former teammate — Carson Wentz — is signing a deal with the Chiefs.

A former notable Philadelphia Eagles quarterback is landing with a Super Bowl contender.

Carson Wentz — the former No. 2 overall draft pick who was once an MVP candidate with the Eagles — is signing with the Kansas City Chiefs to serve as Patrick Mahomes’ backup, according to a report from Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.

Carson Wentz Posted MVP-Caliber Season in 2017

The 31-year-old Wentz had spent the second half of the 2023 season with the Los Angeles Rams, signing with the team in Week 10 after spending the first half of the year as a free agent. Wentz started one game for the Rams — the season finale with the team resting starter Matthew Stafford — and he posted a productive stat line going 17-for-24 with two touchdowns, one interception and 163 passing yards. He also posted 56 rushing yards and a touchdown in the start.

Prior to his stint with the Rams, Wentz was only a highly touted starter with the Eagles. Wentz was named to the Pro Bowl and a Second Team All-Pro selection during the 2017 season — the year in which the Eagles won the Super Bowl. However, Wentz missed Philadelphia’s entire postseason run due to a a torn ACL injury in a Week 14 game.

Wentz was in the midst of an MVP-caliber year, posting 33 touchdowns against seven interceptions for a 101.9 quarterback rating. He still finished No. 3 in MVP voting despite missing four games. His passing TD percentage and quarterback rating led the NFL, while his number of touchdowns ranked second.

Carson Wentz Has Yet to Regain 2017 Form

However, Wentz’s career has been in a tailspin ever since. Wentz served as Philadelphia’s starting quarterback for three more seasons, helping lead the Eagles to back-to-back playoff appearances in 2018 and 2019. However, a back injury limited him to just 11 starts during the 2018 season and caused him to the miss the playoffs again.

Wentz was able to start his first-ever playoff game in 2019, but he suffered a head injury in the first quarter and missed the remainder of the game due to a concussion.

He entered the 2020 season as the starting quarterback; however, he was replaced by rookie Jalen Hurts after leading the league in interceptions (15), turnovers (19) and sacks taken (50). Despite being benched after 12 games played, Wentz still led the league in all three of those categories by season’s end.

Since his tenure in Philly, Wentz has had starting stints with the Indianapolis Colts and Washington Commanders. In fact, the Colts gave up a first and third-round pick to acquire the former No. 2 overall pick. While Wentz had a productive season in 2021 with the Colts — 27 touchdowns against seven interceptions — he lost his final two starts of the season, including a season finale loss to the league-worst Jacksonville Jaguars with a playoff berth on the line.

Both teams moved on from Wentz after he started just one season with each of them.

Similar to the role he served in Los Angeles as Stafford’s backup, he’ll have similar duties in Kansas City behind franchise quarterback Mahomes.

In eight seasons, Wentz holds career totals of 22,292 passing yards, 153 touchdowns and 67 interceptions with a 62.7% completion rate. He holds a 47-45-1 career record in 95 appearances and 93 starts.

DJ Siddiqi covers the NFL for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles, Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He has covered the NFL and NBA for Forbes, ClutchPoints, CBS Sports, 24/7 Sports and Bleacher Report before joining Heavy. More about DJ Siddiqi