Philadelphia Eagles: Teams should simply wait out the Zach Ertz saga
By David Esser
According to NFL insider Michael Silver, the Philadelphia Eagles have begun taking calls in regards to Zach Ertz and his trade availability. This shouldn’t come off as super surprising to anyone who’s been following the team this season. After all, Ertz delivered a pretty heartfelt “goodbye” following the team’s loss in Week 17.
The Ertz-Eagles divorce has been brooding for quite some time now, and the departure of Carson Wentz earlier this offseason likely solidifed it. According to Silver, a move for the former Pro Bowler could be coming very soon:
Multiple teams have called the Eagles about the possibility of trading for three-time Pro Bowl TE Zach Ertz, and a deal could happen in the coming days, according to two sources familiar with the talks. @nflnetwork @AroundTheNFL
— Michael Silver (@MikeSilver) March 8, 2021
While Howie Roseman and the Eagles would obviously prefer to recoup some sort of value from their highly paid tight end, the simple truth is that interested teams should feel no obligation to trade for the disgruntled pass-catcher. Everyone knows Ertz wants out, everyone knows the Eagles are in salary cap hell (despite their recent restructuring), and everyone ultimately knows that Ertz won’t be on the roster come Week 1.
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This presents a pretty simple solution for teams that have been calling: wait things out.
As much as Eagles fans are hoping to get a third, or even a second round pick back in return for Ertz, the brutal reality is that interested teams should have little to no reason to pay such a lofty price. Not only is Ertz coming off the worst season of his professional career, but he’s currently due to make $8.25 million in 2021.
It’s a tough sell from the Philadelphia Eagles front office that he’s still one of the top TEs in football, and their negative cap space at the moment makes it easy for rival executives to call their bluff. It’s similar to the Carson Wentz situation, where Roseman ultimately had to take the Colts less-than-ideal offer due to the fact that Indy was well aware that Wentz would be moved regardless.
As good as Ertz would likely be in a new scheme with a new coach, teams aren’t going to be jumping to pay him $8+ million. Pretty much every front office around the NFL is actively trying to shed salary this offseason due to the financial implications of COVID-19.
The Philadelphia Eagles have no leverage in Ertz trade talks.
A desperate team could totally lob a late-round pick towards Philly if they’d prefer to just land Ertz outright, but I ultimately think it’s something front offices around the league should be patient on. The Minnesota Vikings just recently cut Kyle Rudolph despite the production he’s given them over the last couple of seasons – cap casualties are definitely going to be commonplace this offseason.
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Roseman and the Eagles will try to pump up Ertz’ trade value as much as humanly possible over the next couple of days, but when it’s all said and done, don’t be surprised if the rest of the league calls Howie on his bluff, forcing him to release the 3x Pro Bowler.