Carson Wentz trade update: Bears reportedly still favorites over Colts, but Wentz prefers Indianapolis; NFL analyst believes Wentz makes Chicago Super Bowl 56 contender

It has been rather quiet of late around the Philadelphia Eagles, Chicago Bears and Indianapolis Colts regarding a potential trade of Eagles QB Carson Wentz to one of those two teams – leading some to believe that a deal could be imminent, while CBS Sports' Jason La Canfora says perhaps it will still be a few weeks. Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer reported Monday that the Bears are "front-runners" to land Wentz and have pushed harder than the Colts, but that Wentz would prefer to land in Indianapolis because of Colts head coach Frank Reich.

There also have been reports that because the Eagles are asking so much for Wentz, they might have to include tight end Zach Ertz – who clearly isn't in the team's plans despite one more year on his contract – in any trade. Seattle also has spoken to Philadelphia about Ertz but not Wentz considering the Seahawks have Russell Wilson under center.

While it's not clear what the Bears have offered for Wentz, former Eagles quarterback Ron Jaworski has reported the best offer the Eagles have received for Wentz is two second-round picks from the Colts. That may be the best Philly can do considering that this past season among quarterbacks with at least 300 dropbacks, Wentz was 31st out of 32 QBs in yards per attempt (6.0), rating (72.8) and expected points added per play (-0.054).

Wentz almost surely will be traded before March 19, the third day of the new league year, as that's when he's due a $10 million roster bonus for 2021. It could be that Chicago and Indianapolis are also waiting for official word on what next year's salary cap number will be.

The Bears are currently +5000 longer shots at William Hill Sportsbook to win Super Bowl 56 next February in Los Angeles, but former NFL linebacker and ESPN analyst Bart Scott said Monday on ESPN's Get Up that "if (Wentz) goes to Chicago, that makes Chicago, I believe, a Super Bowl contender" because Wentz is such a huge upgrade on Mitchell Trubisky. By most statistical metrics, however, Trubisky was better in 2020.

Scott also said that Wentz would turn the Colts into Super Bowl contenders, and that makes sense as Indy has a much better roster overall than Chicago and finished 11-5 last season before losing in Buffalo in the wild-card round.

The SportsLine Projection Model forecasts Indianapolis for 9.5 wins in 2021 and Chicago 8.0, but that's on the 16-game known schedule (expected to be 17) and without Wentz on either team.

If you are wondering, the Eagles are not scheduled to face either the Bears or Colts in 2021.

Via SportsLine NFL oddsmakers: Which team will Carson Wentz be playing for Week 1 of the 2021 season?

• Bears Even
• Colts +120
• Other +800

The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every NBA game 10,000 times, and it returned over $5,000 in profit on its top-rated NBA picks last season. The model is also up more than $8,400 on top-rated NBA picks over the past two-plus seasons. Dating back to last season, it enters Week 9 of the 2020-21 NBA schedule on a stunning 83-48 roll on top-rated NBA picks against the spread. Anybody who has followed it has seen HUGE returns.