Philadelphia Eagles: Week 6 could define Zach Ertz’s trade value

Zach Ertz has been targeted 25 times by Jalen Hurts through the first five games of the Philadelphia Eagles season.

As improbable as it may sound, that number is tied with Jalen Reagor for the second-highest mark on the team, trailing only DeVonta Smith at 39.

To some, this served as a sign that Ertz was still a part of the Eagles’ plans long-term, as you don’t use a player that much when you don’t like them – just ask poor Miles Sanders – but when you look at the yardage gained versus the balls thrown his way, there becomes a pretty big disparity that’s hard to ignore.

You see, of the 25 balls thrown his way, Ertz has only caught 14 of them, tied for the fifth-highest mark with Kenneth Gainwell, who was targeted four fewer times. Mind you, that doesn’t mean Ertz hasn’t still been a viable contributor, as he currently ranks fourth on the team in total yards behind only Smith, Quez Watkins, and his fellow tight end Dallas Goedert, but when you are quite literally the only receiver on the team with a catch percentage of under 60 percent, one has to wonder if an average of five balls are still going to be headed his way moving forward.

And yet, according to NFL insider Jeremy Fowler (as per NBC Sports Philadelphia), both the Buffalo Bills and the Indianapolis Colts have remained interested in potentially striking a deal for Ertz’s service moving forward, especially if the Eagles drop to, say 2-5 by Week 7.

If that’s the case, Week 6 could massively define Zach Ertz’s value moving forward, as the Philadelphia Eagles will be without Dallas Goedert versus Tom Brady and the Bucs due to landing on the COVID-list on Tuesday.

Could the Philadelphia Eagles cash out on Zach Ertz after a big Week 6?

Zach Ertz to the Buffalo Bills always made sense.

The team already entered the season with a trio of quality wide receivers in Stefon Diggs, Cole Beasley, and Emmanuel Sanders, a pair of pass-catching running backs in Devin Singletary and Zach Moss, and one of the best young quarterbacks in the league by the name of Josh Adams, who is now locked into a massive contract extension worth $258 million with $150 million guaranteed. The only real question the team had on their offensive depth chart was at tight end, with 2019 third-round pick Dawson Knox expected to headline a position grouping that also featured 2019 seventh-round pick, Tommy Sweeney.

While Ertz may no longer be the top-5 tight end he was in his prime, he has appeared in 37 more games than Knox, and Sweeney have combined catches and remains the sort of veteran target that many championship-caliber teams have been known to employ.

As things presently stand, the Bills have at least seven picks in the 2022 NFL Draft, with as many as nine at their disposal depending on the conditions of a seventh-round pick potentially owed to them by the Atlanta Falcons and a sixth-round pick coming their way either from Vegas or Carolina (read all about that here). If Ertz balls out for the Philadelphia Eagles against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers sans Dallas Goedert, maybe, just maybe, the Bills brass would be willing to up their offer and finally secure Allan that one final weapon to put his offense over the top a la Howie Roseman’s decision to trade for Jay Ajayi back in 2017.

Now granted, such a feat is easier said than done, as the Buccaneers have a pair of quality linebackers by the name of Lavonte David and Devin White who are incredibly talented, but according to the Fantasy Football Database, the Bucs are giving up the seventh-most yards per game in the league to opposing tight ends (64.0) and are tied for the most touchdowns surrendered to the position in the league at four.

If Nick Sirianni wants to frontload targets to Ertz early on to test the middle of the field, it could pay massive dividends down the line if his team needs a clutch conversion on third down in the fourth quarter… assuming he actually catches it. That was actually a massive problem for Ertz in Week 6, as he only caught one of the six balls thrown his way for a measly seven yards gained.

But hey, Ertz has already recorded the same number of 50-plus yard games in 2021 as he did in 2020 on only five appearances, so if he can simply surpass that number yet again, it could help everyone out.

In theory, the Philadelphia Eagles have one more tight ends than they need moving forward. Considering the team only targets the position once every four times Jalen Hurts drops back to throw, having a developmental TE2 like Tyree Jackson may make more sense than rolling with a pair of proven options being paid like TE1s. Could Howie Roseman conceivably opt to go with Zach Ertz over Dallas Goedert moving forward? I mean, he shouldn’t, but in theory, he could if the money is incredibly disparate, but if the Buffalo Bills want to swoop in and offer a late Day 2 or early Day 3 pick for the former Stanford Cardinals’ services after an impressive showing in Week 6, it might just be worth shipping out the team’s fourth-most prolific receiver to another contender.