Eagles Position Examination: Tight Ends (Zach Ertz Era Over?)
PHILADELPHIA - While most of the talk about marquee players leaving Philadelphia focuses on Carson Wentz, the quarterback's long-time security blanket in the passing game, Zach Ertz, is even more likely to have a new home come September.
Ertz is coming off a down season, one in which he and the organization didn't see eye to eye on his value. And that relationship isn't likely getting fixed.
To be honest, it's a difficult situation for Eagles GM Howie Roseman, who has an ascending tight end in Dallas Goedert that will require an extension soon, along with the already high-priced Ertz, who turned 30 in November and is coming off a 2020 season in which he put up career-lows with 36 receptions for 335 yards while missing five games due to injury.
To put that into further perspective Ertz hadn't caught less than 74 passes since 2014 and amassed an NFL tight-end record of 116 in 2018.
This is the fourth part in a series examining each position on the Eagles' roster.
READ MORE ON WRs: Eagles Position Examination: Receivers (Jalen Reagor the ...
Ertz remains under contract with a base salary of $8,25 million in 2021, and a salary-cap figure just south of $12.5M. A trade or release would offer at least a bit of relief in the form of $7.77M in dead money counting against their cap vs. a savings of $4.702M, not great especially when you add in the potential $33.8M in dead money for Wentz but certainly a feasible scenario.
Howie Roseman described the loggerheads, which really date back to the playoffs after the 2019 season when Ertz went above and beyond by playing with broken ribs and a lacerated kidney against the Seattle Seahawks, by explaining sometimes you have to play the bad cop as a general manager.
"Sometimes you see that in my role, sometimes it's not always the good cop. Sometimes you're in a mode of that you have to do what you think is right for the team, not only with Zach, but with everyone, and that's hard," said Roseman. "That's hard when you have relationships with guys."
While Ertz has been consistent in saying he holds no grudges, he got emotional in his season-ending press conference with the assumption his tenure in Philadelphia is coming to an end.
"I think this city is the best city to play for and I couldn’t have asked for a better experience and the city means a lot to me, it means a lot to my family, and I’m thankful," he said.
Goedert, 26, has quickly developed into one of the better traditional TEs in the NFL after coming in as a second-round pick out of South Dakota State in 2018 and should be the guy for new TE coach Jason Michael, who comes to Philadelphia via Indianapolis just like rookie head coach Nick Sirianni.
Goedert also missed five games due to injury in 2020 and snared 46 receptions for 524 yards, both good for second on the team.
ProFootballFocus.com graded Goedert as the sixth-best TE in the NFL behind only stars like Travis Kelce, Darren Waller, and George Kittle as well as Mo Alie-Cox and teammate Richard Rodgers, a pending free agent who played really well when Ertz and Goedert were down with injuries.
As a run blocker, Goedert was ranked second in the entire NFL by PFF behind only New Orleans' Adam Trautman.
DEPTH CHART
TE1 Zach Ertz (for now) - We will put Ertz No. 1 in deference to his career in Philly although both sides seem resigned to the fact it's coming to an end. If that's the case Ertz will be behind only Hall of Fame receiver Harold Carmichael on the Eagles' all-time receptions list.
TE2 Dallas Goedert - With more on his plate Goedert could quickly enter the conversation as one of the NFL's best tight ends.
TE3 Caleb Wilson - Wilson is the son of former Eagles DL coach Chris Wilson and played for Chip Kelly at UCLA.
TE4 Hakeem Butler - A king-sized receiver in college at Iowa State, Butler is trying to make the transition to oversized flex TE and is back on a futures deal.
TE5 Tyree Jackson - Another transitional project on a futures deal. Jackson is a 6-foot-7, 250-pound player who played QB at the University of Buffalo. Think Washington's Logan Thomas as the template.
FREE AGENTS
The Eagles have three free agents of their own - Rodgers, Josh Perkins, and Jason Croom.
Rodgers, 29, played so well last season that the Eagles should consider bringing him back as the TE2 if they do move on from Ertz as expected. He's just an average blocker and not the best athlete but Rodgers is plenty savvy at this stage of his career.
Perkins, another ex-WR in college, has been injury-prone and seems to have been replaced by Butler as the flex TE project.
DRAFT
All of a sudden momentum is building a bit for Kyle Pitts to Philadelphia at No. 6 overall, perhaps because the Eagles' new QBs coach is former Gators offensive coordinator Brian Johnson.
Whether Philadelphia considers Pitts that high in the draft comes down to how they view him and he would have to be much more than just a tight end to be deemed valuable enough for such a marquee position.
Most around the league are defining Pitts as a weapon. In essence, an oversized flex receiver that won't be playing in-line very much at all. His selection is unlikely by the Eagles because their needs elsewhere are dramatic, but it can't be ruled out.
TRADE
Sorry, but the Eagles aren't likely going to garner much in an Ertz trade because of his contract and the realization by others that Roseman is up against it on numerous fronts when it comes to decision-making in advance of the new league year.
There was some good news during Super Bowl week in that the NFLPA believes the cap will be above the COVID-19 projected floor of $175M, but the bump is not going to be significant enough to dig the Eagles out of many holes.
John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John every Tuesday and Thursday on "The Middle" with Eytan Shander, Harry Mayes, and Barrett Brooks on SportsMap Radio and PhillyVoice.com. He’s also the host of Extending the Play on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
Ed Kracz is the publisher of EagleMaven. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.
