Philadelphia Eagles: The pros and cons of extending Dallas Goedert early

With Zach Ertz’ Philadelphia Eagles career all but over, and Dallas Goedert set to be an unrestricted free agent at season’s end, the conclusion that Howie Roseman should start aggressively pursuing a contract extension with his former second-round pick is a pretty easy one to come to. The Eagles have routinely found ways to get Goedert involved in the offense despite the presence of Ertz over the past few seasons, and he’s flashed some serious potential when healthy.

Roseman is also known as an executive who likes to extend players early, potentially getting them at a discounted price in the long run.

While Goedert has gone on record saying he wants to play his entire career with the Philadelphia Eagles, the decision to potentially work out a shiny new extension now, as opposed to later on in the season, isn’t as cut and dry as it may initially appear.

There are both pros and cons to an early Dallas Goedert extension for the Philadelphia Eagles.

Here’s a quick glance at some of the pros and cons to such a decision:

PRO: Dallas Goedert is really good

Before even discussing anything else, it’s a commonly held belief that Goedert is pretty good at the whole football thing. He’s racked up 1,465 total receiving yards and 12 touchdowns since debuting in 2018, and that’s while operating in a more TE2 focused role.

If Goedert had been the starter the past three seasons, one can only assume that his numbers would look even more impressive, potentially ranking towards the top of the league.

CON: Injury concerns

The major criticism attached to Goedert has nothing to do with his on-field play, it has to do with his ability to physically stay on the football field. Goedert missed five games last year and one game in 2019, both due to soft tissue strains. According to sportsinjurypredictor.com, Goedert’s chance of injury in 2021 in 83%, and his projected games missed is three.

Injuries are part of the game, but you never want to see big-time money tied up in a player who struggles to stay on the field over the course of their career.

PRO: Potential to “set the market”

As previously stated, Howie Roseman is someone who is constantly attempting to operate one step ahead of the crowd when it comes to contracts. The multi-year deal that he gave to Carson Wentz would actually look pretty reasonable compared to some of the other quarterbacks around football if he was still on the roster.

With Goedert, any sort of extension worked out in the near future would likely come at a bit of a discount, as he’s yet to play a full season as a starter. It’d be hard for Goedert’s agent to demand money comparable to that of George Kittle or Travis Kelce, as he simply doesn’t have their type of statistical production quite yet.

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If the Philadelphia Eagles were able to lock up Goedert now, at say $10 million per season, and he then explodes onto the scene as a top-5 TE this season, that’d end up being quite the favorable transaction for Roseman.

CON: Uncertainty with Sirianni/Hurts

This point might not really matter in the grand scheme of things (talent > fit), but we have minimal data to suggest that Dallas Goedert is going to be a focal point in Nick Sirianni’s offense this season. Sirianni is coming from a Colts system that didn’t necessarily use their tight ends as leading pass-catching options, and Goedert actually struggled to really produce with Hurts at QB in 2020.

In the three games that Hurts and Goedert started together last season, Goedert recorded just 11 catches for 120 yards. Zero touchdowns.

For a player who’s likely looking to be paid like a top-tier tight end, you’re going to have to find a way to get him way more involved in the offense moving forward. With DeVonta Smith and Jalen Reagor both fighting for big roles this season, and Hurts being a bit of a “run-first” quarterback, that might be hard to do in the short-term.

Ultimately speaking, I think the Philadelphia Eagles should – and will – extend Goedert sometime this season. He’s one of the few young players on the roster who I can undeniably label as “good,” and he’s only 26 years old. Time will tell if he’s able to stay healthy and if Sirianni/Hurts can get him appropriately involved, but he does have the makings of a player who should be a core piece to the team’s rebuilding efforts.