There are “multiple teams” who called the Philadelphia Eagles about the possibility of negotiating with tight end Zach Ertz, according to a report by Mike Silver of the NFL Network.
Several teams have called the Eagles about the possibility of negotiating for the three-time Pro Bowl TE Zach Ertz, and a deal could happen in the next few days, according to two sources familiar with the negotiations. @nflnetwork @AroundTheNFL
– Michael Silver (@MikeSilver) March 8, 2021
Ertz has been one of the Eagles’ most productive players, leading the Eagles in receiving in four of the five years during the Doug Pederson-Carson Wentz era. The exception, of course, was 2020, when Ertz had a brutal season, losing five games and producing career casualties in receptions (36), yards (335), yards per catch (9.3), yards per target (4, 7) and TDs (1). He also had five falls, for a drop percentage of 12.2%, the worst of his career. Yes, the Eagles’ attack was generally disjointed, but Ertz also underperformed the standards he had set throughout his career in Philadelphia.
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Before the 2020 season, Ertz made it clear that he was dissatisfied with his contract situation, after seeing George Kittle and Travis Kelce get new business. At the end of the season, an emotional Ertz seemed to realize that his tenure with the team was coming to an end.
Ertz has a base salary of $ 8,250,000 in 2021 and a cap of $ 12,471,500. If the Eagles release or negotiate, they will have $ 7,769,500 in dead money counting against their limit, with savings of $ 4,702,000. If Ertz is traded, that negotiation cannot be carried out until the start of the new league year in March, so the savings gained from negotiating it will not help Eagles reach below the threshold before the deadline to do so. Although certainly, the Eagles can use as many lottery tickets as they can in the draft.
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