Carson Wentz upgrades Commanders' QB room, but has plenty to prove - Washington Commanders Blog- ESPN

ASHBURN, Va. — The Washington Commanders landed their quarterback of the present. But has their three-decade search ended or just, once again, been placed on pause? At worst, trading for Carson Wentz buys Washington time to keep searching for its long-term solution.

This trade with the Indianapolis Colts might only be the first step toward finding a longer-term solution: The Commanders, who have started 32 quarterbacks since the franchise last won the Super Bowl after the 1991 season, could still draft a quarterback. They could move on after one year from Wentz, with no cap penalty, if he doesn't work out. Or they could stick with him for a couple of years if there's no better option. In other words, they found their guy for right now. Beyond that? Wait and see.

The cost wasn't substantial but it also wasn't insignificant — the teams swapped second-round picks in 2022 and Washington also gave up a third this year and a conditional third in 2023. Wentz has no guaranteed money beyond this season.

He was the No. 2 overall pick in 2016, but things went south for him in Philadelphia, and one year was all it took for Indianapolis to move on. But in Washington, he still represents an upgrade. That's how bad the Commanders' quarterback play has been in recent years.

Wentz arrives with plenty of questions: Why would a team that traded a first-round pick for him a year ago give up on him so quickly? After all, a former coach in Philadelphia, Frank Reich, was his coach with the Colts — though this might not have been Reich's decision. Owner Jim Irsay wanted Wentz gone.

There are questions about what happened at the end of Wentz's Eagles tenure, his contributions to it and how he was received in the locker room. There are questions