Carson Wentz trade will set NFL record for dead cap money

There is one interesting nugget to emerge from the Carson Wentz trade.

Wentz was dealt on Thursday from the Philadelphia Eagles to the Indianapolis Colts. Wentz wanted out of Philly after being benched last season, and the Eagles were ready to move on from him despite needing to eat a big cost.

Wentz is owed $25.4 million (all guaranteed) for the 2021 season and $22 million in 2022. Philly will be hit with a $33.8 million dead-cap charge for trading Wentz to Indy. That is an NFL record for largest dead-cap charge, as ESPN's Dan Graziano shared.

Even though the Eagles have a big cap hit despite Wentz not playing for them, the difference is less than $1 million for how much he would have counted against the cap if he were on the team. In other words, the Eagles were in a bad spot financially concerning Wentz no matter what they did.

It’s hard to believe this is where things ended up for the Eagles and Wentz. Former Eagles coach Doug Pederson was raving about Wentz not too long ago. Wentz was playing at an MVP level in 2017 before tearing his ACL. The Colts are banking on being able to unlock that version of Wentz once again.