PHILADELPHIA – New Philadelphia Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said he “can’t answer” whether quarterback Carson Wentz will be on the team in 2021, as he is in the process of “evaluating everything.”
“What we need to do is evaluate the entire roster,” Sirianni said at his introductory press conference Friday. “We have two quarterbacks in Carson Wentz and Jalen Hurts that are top notch quarterbacks. A lot of teams don’t have any. So just really excited to work with both of them.”
Sirianni added that he is not ready to say whether there will be an open competition at quarterback this offseason, and hasn’t established a timeline for when he needs to choose his starter.
Wentz’s relationship with the organization became strained during a 2020 season in which Wentz led the league in interceptions (15) and sacks (50) and was benched in favor of Hurts for the final four games. He planned to ask for a trade this offseason because of a fractured relationship with coach Doug Pederson, according to ESPN’s Chris Mortensen. Pederson was fired on January 11 after he and owner Jeffrey Lurie failed to align on a vision for the team moving forward.
Both Sirianni and offensive coordinator Shane Steichen have talked to Wentz over the last week. Sirianni said he couldn’t speak to any issues between Wentz and the team, but that he had a “good conversation” with Wentz.
Sirianni has also spoken to Hurts, the team’s second-round pick in 2020 who gave the offense a spark when inserted to the lineup before cooling a bit down the stretch.
“The same conversation with him is that I’m really excited to work with him,” Sirianni said. “We studied him last year, he had a great college tape. He played meaningful snaps this year that he played well in.”
Still in the process of hiring assistant coaches and getting acclimated to his new role, Sirianni said he and his staff hasn’t dug into the game film yet, including the quarterbacks’.
“Every position is going to be evaluated and every position is going to be open,” he said, “and we can’t wait to start watching the tape and seeing what our players can do.”