In Howie Roseman, he trusts: Carson Wentz says seeing the Eagles draft Jalen Hurts didn’t bother him

The bottom line is that Carson Wentz committed to the Eagles last year and they committed to him, when the signatures went onto that four-year, $128 million contract extension, Wentz said Monday.

So Wentz is OK with whatever general manager Howie Roseman does, including the selection of Oklahoma quarterback Jalen Hurts 53rd overall in the NFL draft’s second round.

“I trust their decision,” Wentz said several times on a video conference with reporters, Wentz’s first media session since he left the team’s wild-card playoff loss to Seattle in January with a first-quarter concussion.

"With Jalen, I’m excited to add him to the team. I know how important the quarterback position is. ... I’ve been blessed over the years to have some incredible -- not just quarterbacks, but some incredible teammates and friends in that quarterback room. We really endure a lot together and go through [a lot] together.

“I’m excited; I’ve heard nothing but great things about Jalen, the kid he is and the player that he is. I got a chance to talk to him just briefly. I’m excited to add him to the fold. It creates a really good, healthy, competitive, challenging environment for all of us.”

Wentz said that when Roseman told him the team might want to draft Hurts, “It didn’t really concern me. ... I had a feeling we were going to draft somebody [at quarterback], just the way our roster’s laid out, starting to get younger and stuff, so there was no concern for me.”

Wentz, 27, finished the regular season healthy last year for the first time since his 2016 rookie season, but his critics have made much of his bad injury luck when it comes to the postseason. The snippet of the Seattle game before he was concussed was his only career appearance.

Although Roseman said the drafting of Hurts had nothing to do with Wentz, it has been noted that teams generally draft potential starters in the second round, not backups.

“I think the team showed their faith in me last year” with the contract, he said. “I have nothing but confidence and faith in them and they have confidence and faith in me. ... If I were to start questioning Howie and management now, I’d really be questioning myself,” for entrusting his future to the Eagles.

Wentz is signed through 2024, but after 2021, his dead cap number if he were traded or released would go from more than $59.2 million to about $24.5 million, according to Spotrac.com. Whether that might be a conceivable amount to swallow in a couple of years might depend on the growth of the salary cap and how Wentz plays. It is still going to be a pretty hefty figure.

Wentz said there has been no discussion with him about how Hurts might be used. Hurts has been likened to New Orleans’ Taysom Hill in that the team could decide to bring him onto the field for specialized plays.

“We’ll see how that plays out,” Wentz said. “For me, whatever’s going to help us win. ... I want to stand up there and hold that Lombardi Trophy. Whatever that takes, whatever that’s going to look like, I’m on board. I want to be out there, I want to have the ball in my hands at all times, but at the same time, whatever’s going to help us win.”

Asked if he would prefer the team had added a potential non-QB starter who could have helped Wentz, rather than bringing in a backup and potential replacement, Wentz reiterated that he trusts Roseman and the front office.

“I have nothing but confidence in their ability to put together the best 53-man roster that they can,” he said.

Wentz was asked if he thinks the team has done enough this offseason to put weapons around him; last season, the Eagles didn’t have a wide receiver who compiled as many as 500 receiving yards. The Eagles didn’t add a significant offensive free agent. They drafted three wide receivers and traded for oft-injured speedster Marquise Goodwin on the final day of the draft.

“I’m extremely excited – not just with adding Jalen [Reagor] in the first round, and adding his speed, but also going out and getting Marquise. I’ve been watching him on tape for years … extremely impressive.”

Wentz said that in reviewing the draft, “I just know that we’ve added some speed and some explosiveness, that I’m excited to be creative and find ways to get those guys open.”

Had reporters been able to talk to Wentz at any point between the end of the season and the draft, the questioning would have been dominated by his feelings on leaving the first playoff start of his career so early, then seeing backup Josh McCown and the offense unable to generate enough points in a 17-9 loss to a Seattle team that looked beatable.

Even now, Wentz is reluctant to divulge details about the concussion and his recovery. Monday, he diverted questions on this subject to how he felt that the stretch drive from 5-7 to 9-7 and the NFC East title was something to be proud of, and build upon. He wouldn’t say when his symptoms subsided, when he was cleared through the league’s concussion protocol, or whether he would have been able to play the next week, had the Eagles won.

“Obviously I’ve had some time now to reflect on that. It is frustrating. … A head injury is something that is just out of your control,” Wentz said. “We did some amazing things just to get to that point. I was extremely proud of the team and the way we rallied late in the year. I hated not being out there and hated – it’s not fun dealing with a head injury, it’s a scary part of the game.”

To a later concussion question, Wentz said: “It’s scary stuff. It kind of changes a lot of things in your brain. You only get one of those brains, so you’ve got to protect it. I was dealing with it, it was tough, but fortunately, I’m in a pretty good place. It really was tough, to not see, not just the finish to that game, but that was the end of our season. It was frustrating to not be out there.”

Like the rest of us, Wentz has no idea when he might be able to gather with his teammates. As much as he wants to get going, he said he has been happy to have a lot of time with his wife, Madison, and their daughter, Hadley Jayne, who was a week old on Monday.

Wentz said he won’t use the drafting of Hurts as motivation for his play; he won’t be avenging any sort of insult.

“For me, it doesn’t matter who is in the room with me. I’m the most motivated person in that room. … This doesn’t change my perspective on who I am as a player, and what I have to prove, any of that stuff, because I got out there every day with some high expectations,” he said.

“I can assure you Howie and I are in a good place and on good terms. I trust him and the decisions he’s making, and the plan that he put into place in the offseason.”