Are Eagles better off with or without Carson Wentz? That could depend on Jalen Hurts

Speculation will continue until Carson Wentz emerges to tell everybody how he really feels about sitting out the Eagles' last 4½ games.

Will he really seek a trade because he feels his relationship with Eagles coach Doug Pederson is "fractured beyond repair," as reported Sunday by ESPN's Chris Mortensen?

Or is he just needing some time away to think about his future, hoping that it won't end in a divorce, as the Associated Press reported Tuesday, citing a person familiar with the situation?

As all of that plays out, it's worth examining how Jalen Hurts' play as Wentz's replacement could affect Wentz's future.

Let's start with the usual qualifier that Wentz's contract makes it impossible for the Eagles to release him because it would be a dead money hit of $59.2 million on the salary cap. The Eagles are already projected to be $70 million over the cap, meaning they would be $95 million over by releasing Wentz.

It also makes a trade difficult because the Eagles would take a $34 million dead money hit for Wentz to resurrect his career somewhere else.

It does not make a trade impossible, however.

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If Hurts' play was so dominant that the Eagles believed that he could be the franchise quarterback going forward, the Eagles could make every effort to trade Wentz during the offseason.

Eagles general manager Howie Roseman said Monday "(a trade) is not anything we are talking about right now."

Then he added: "I don't think it's a secret that we moved up for him (in the 2016 draft) because of what we thought about him as a person, as a player ... And so, when you have players like that, they are like fingers on your hand. You can't even imagine that they are not part of you; that they are not here. That's how we feel about Carson."

Here is what Roseman did not say: "We are not trading Carson."

Sure, part of that could be because the Eagles don't want to tip their hand, knowing that announcing that they plan to trade Wentz would diminish what they could get in return.

But it's also possible that the Eagles don't see Hurts as a better alternative, and hope they can resurrect Wentz's career. The Eagles went 1-3 in Hurts' four starts, although the one win was a 24-21 win over the Saints, who were 10-2 at the time.

After Wentz was benched in the second half of the Dec. 6 game against Green Bay, Hurts completed 51% of his passes for 1,028 yards. He threw 6 touchdown passes against 4 interceptions and had a passer rating of 76.5. He was also sacked 13 times.

If you project that over a full season, Hurts would have ended up with 3,290 yards passing with 19 touchdowns against 13 interceptions, and he would have been sacked 42 times.

"I tell you honestly, these last four weeks have been different for me," Hurts said. "Mentally, the grind, I’ve embraced it and I’ve loved it, honestly. I love winning more than anything. I care nothing about that but winning. I’ve been so invested in doing that.

"How can I grow into the player I know I can be? What does that look like? Who’s around me? Who’s going to help me get there? Just finding that, I think that’s where my head is."

The problem, for the Eagles, was that Hurts' numbers – except for one – are comparable to Wentz's stats, and Wentz had by far the worst season of his career. He also ranked among the worst starting quarterbacks in the NFL.

Wentz's completion percentage of 57.4% in 12 starts was ranked 35th of 36 quarterbacks with enough pass attempts to qualify. Wentz's passer rating of 72.8 was ranked 34th. 

Even after sitting out the last 4½ games, Wentz still tied for the NFL lead with 15 interceptions. He was also sacked a league-high 50 times.

Projected over a full season, Wentz would have ended up with 3,493 yards passing with 21 touchdowns and 20 interceptions, with 67 sacks.

The 67 sacks would rank fourth all-time, behind Houston's David Carr with 76 in 2002, the Eagles' Randall Cunningham with 72 in 1986 and Carr again with 68 in 2005.

Carr, a former No. 1 overall pick, washed out of the league, in large part from a loss of confidence.

The one area where Hurts differentiated himself from Wentz was in rushing yards. Hurts ran for 301 yards and 3 TDs in the 4½ games. Over a full season, that comes out to 963 yards and 10 TDs.

Wentz ran for 276 yards and 5 TDs, which comes out to 368 and 7 TDs over a full season.

If the Eagles view Hurts as a quarterback/runner, such as Baltimore's Lamar Jackson or Arizona's Kyler Murray, then it's possible they would be comfortable enough moving forward with Hurts, as long as they design an offense more suited for his strengths.

Then again, the Eagles always believed Wentz could at least be enough of a threat as a runner where opponents had to respect him. That didn't happen this season, for the most part.

But it doesn't mean that it can't going forward. Wentz is just 28. 

"I've been challenged as the head coach; personally challenged myself to get things right, to get him right," Pederson said. "And to make sure that as we move forward that we're doing everything in the best interests of the team."

It's just deciding whether those "best interests" are with or without Wentz.

Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.