Chiefs’ culture sold Carson Wentz on joining team

Kansas City’s newest backup quarterback took local media questions on Thursday.

On Monday, Bleacher Report’s Jordan Schultz reported that the Kansas City Chiefs were signing former Philadelphia Eagles starting quarterback Carson Wentz to serve as Patrick Mahomes’ backup for the upcoming season.

On Thursday, the now well-traveled Wentz — the second overall selection of the 2016 NFL Draft — joined the Kansas City media for an introductory press conference via Zoom.

The Chiefs will now mark Wentz’s fourth team in four seasons since leaving the Eagles in 2020. While he knows it may be another one-year stint, Kansas City’s recent success and reputation under head coach Andy Reid factored heavily into his decision.

“It’s all ‘take it one day at the time,’ first and foremost,” Wentz stated his recent career trajectory. “Big intrigue to wanting to come here. Why I’m here today is just the winning culture and seeing it from afar. Seeing it around the league for the last couple of years — just the culture that Coach Reid has set — you see it, and I’ve admired it for years. That was a big piece of the puzzle for me: the desire to here, on a winning team, in a good culture, and a good community with a good fan base. It just seemed like a good fit.”

Wentz also has experience with a previous one-year Chiefs’ backup quarterback: Nick Foles who started a game in 2016 in relief of previous Kansas City starter Alex Smith. The two passers played together in Philadelphia from 2017-18.

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“When I played with Nick,” Wentz recalled, “I remember all the good things he had to say about his time here. He absolutely loved it. He loved working with those guys, and those things he said to me back then definitely still rang true in my head. As I was making this decision, so to speak, I just remember all the positive things he said about the organization and coaches…Those things were definitely a factor and kind of gave me a little more peace and comfort.”

Rumors swirled last offseason that the Chiefs were interested in signing Wentz as a backup. While he declined to discuss specifics of any prior negotiations, the veteran appeared to have no desire for a lengthy process in choosing his team, as in 2023. Wentz sat most of last season before joining the Los Angeles Rams on November 8.

“I’ve been a starter, and now I’ve been a backup,” he explained. “There’s different things at play. Last year kind of just was what it was. There’s a lot of reasons why it unfolded the way it was. This year, I think [the Chiefs’] persistence in some of those things made me feel more comfortable with it. The year I had — the year I was kind of just sitting out — it wasn’t necessarily the most fun sitting out all year and waiting for a call every single week.

“So I’m definitely just excited to be on the team and kind of go through the entire offseason with the team: build those relationships with coaches, make some friends with players on the team, [and] be in a locker room setting again.”

In Philadelphia, Wentz played under current Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson, who served as Kansas City’s offensive coordinator under Reid from 2015-17. While Wentz stressed there will be differences in the playbooks of the two offensive minds, he believes he will quickly learn the Chiefs’ offense.

“I don’t know the X’s and O’s yet,” said Wentz. “I see them from afar watching film or watching games whenever I’d see the Chiefs on film. I would imagine it will make sense to me pretty quick because of being five years with Coach Pederson in that offense. Obviously, there is always little intricacies and differences, but I think it will make sense to me and resonate with me pretty quickly.

“That part I am looking forward to, the last couple of years’ offenses have been very different that I’ve been in, so I’ve gotten to see a lot [and] experience a lot. I think this one will kind of hit home so to speak and be the most familiar for me over the last couple of years.”

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The 6-foot-5 Wentz has been particularly successful with quarterback sneaks — a play Reid has not allowed Mahomes to run since a knee injury in 2019. While some analysts have wondered if Wentz might be deployed in some short yardage packages, he appeared no more knowledgeable on the matter. One of his new teammates, however, will appreciate Wentz’s insight into why he has been so successful converting key yards.

“No idea,” he said of potentially serving as a sneak specialist. “Yes, I’ve had a lot of success with that, [but] I would credit a lot of my success to [former Eagles center] Jason Kelce over the years there in Philly. He was the real secret ingredient to that one. Whatever capacity they need me to help in any way, that’s why I’m here.”