Zach Ertz Making His Whole Career with the Eagles — It’s What Should Have Been.
It’s the call that no athlete wants to receive. For former Eagles tight end, it wasn’t unexpected. After eight years with the Eagles, Ertz knew the score. Even going into the 2021 season, it was unlikely that the Eagles were going to extend his contract. The Eagles had two incredible tight ends, and Ertz was the odd man out. Before leaving Philadelphia for Arizona, Ertz held an emotional news conference about his love for Philly. It was genuine, heartfelt.
Part of the Eagles success in roster moves since their resurgence in the early 2000s was making difficult front office decisions, not emotional ones. When they believed that Donovan McNabb was no longer prolific enought to lead the Eagles dynamic offense, he was gone to Washington. When they needed to move on at Safety in 2009, Brian Dawkins was gone to Denver. They even allowed Jeremiah Trotter Sr. (Jr. is on the team now) to sign a seven-year deal with Washington in 2002 when the two teams couldn’t reach an agreement.
But after another contentious situation in Arizona in November of 2023 when Terry McBride became the #1 tight end for the Cardinals, the Eagles did not resign Ertz. After a short stint with the Lions last year, Ertz signed with Washington. Over the last two decades, the Commanders have become a haven for former Eagles. This year, Ertz has returned to a familiar role — harkening back to his days as a favorite target with rookie quarterback Carson Wentz and operating as one of the best tight ends in the NFL. The rookie quarterback that he is supporting now in Washington is Jayden Daniels and for the Washington Commanders and Ertz is ranked as the #10 tight end in the league.
Zach Ertz won’t be remembered in Philly for his departure. He’ll be remembered for his passion for Philly, for giving all of his athletic ability towards being one of the finest tight ends in Eagles history for eight seasons. He’ll be remembered for loving this City. And for making perhaps two of the most important catches in team history; an acrobatic diving touchdown to give the Eagles the lead in the Super Bowl, and just six plays earlier getting just enough on a 4th down to preserve Philadelphia’s game winning drive in Super Bowl LII.
What the Eagles did miss out on was to find a harmonic perfection in having two of the top tight ends in the NFL as weapons on the field at the same time. Another offensive weapon that could not slow down the Eagles juggernaut of Brown, Smith, Hurts, Goedert, and did I mention Saquon Barkley? The failed dual-tight end experiment that was Belichick-esque in New England with Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski and was for the Eagles an unfortunate departure.
It was a miss indeed.
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