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Jan. 11 (UPI) -- The Indianapolis Colts will "evaluate" Carson Wentz's play this off-season before they commit to bringing him back as the starting quarterback in 2022, coach Frank Reich told reporters. Reich made the comments at a news conference Monday in Indianapolis. The Colts coach declined to answer a direct question about if Wentz will start next season. He said he spoke with Colts owner Jim Irsay on Sunday night to discus the 2021 season.
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"Next year's roster will be next year's roster," Reich said. "I don't want to open it up about one player and then start talking about all of them."
The Colts traded away two draft picks to acquire Wentz last off-season in a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles. Wentz, 29, completed 62.4% of his throws for 3,563 yards, 27 scores and seven interceptions in 17 starts in 2021.
The Colts owned the No. 2 rushing offense, but ranked 26th in passing yards. They entered Week 17 with a 9-6 record and were in position for a playoff run, but lost their final two games and failed to clinch a postseason berth.
Wentz completed just 58.9% of his throws for 166.5 passing yards per game and threw two total touchdown passes over his final two starts. He also threw an interception, lost a fumble and was sacked seven times.
Wentz, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, completed 62.7% of his throws for 113 touchdowns and 50 interceptions through his first five seasons with the Eagles. He was 35-32-1 as the Eagles starter.
The Colts quarterback is due a $22 million base salary and carries a total cap hit of $28.3 million in 2022. The Colts could opt out of his contract before the 2023 season.
"We'll take it piece by piece," Reich said of the Colts' off-season evaluation. "We'll evaluate [Wentz's] play. We'll evaluate how we're coaching him, how I'm coaching him, with each position in the pass game. Take it apart piece by piece, and then put it back together."
