The End of Zach Ertz's Eagles Run Expected to Come this Weekend
PHILADELPHIA - Zach Ertz will not play for the Eagles this fall.
That expectation hasn’t changed. That he remains on the roster heading into the 2021 NFL Draft weekend may be a bit of a surprise. If he still on the roster after this weekend, that will be a big surprise.
The Ertz issues were addressed by Trey Wingo and Tony Pauline, a pair of Pro Football Network NFL and draft analysts during a conference call on Wednesday when they were asked by SI.com Eagle Maven what they thought would happen with the Eagles' Pro Bowl tight end this weekend.
“I think Zach Ertz knows his time is over in Philadelphia,” said Wingo. “There was that long, long, long shot on the bench Week 17, think they were there for 90 minutes, the three of them (Jason) Kelce, Zach, and (Carson) Wentz, just sitting on the bench. That in every way felt like good-bye.
“I talked to Zach a couple of times this offseason. He is certainly under the impression he will be playing somewhere else in 2021. Obviously, this weekend would be the time to move him.
"I think he’s still a very productive player and the compensation depends on the desperation factor of the team you’re talking to.”
It has been reported for months now by SI.com Eagle Maven that Ertz will be traded and that several teams have expressed interest.
Ertz, 30, has been with the Eagles his entire career, arriving as a second-round pick (No. 35 overall) in 2013. He won a Super Bowl along the way while also setting an NFL record for receptions by a tight end with 116 in 2018.
He struggled, however, with production last year, but how much was the wear-and-tear accumulated during his eight-year career, and how much was it in part due to a team that struggled in every area and was hammered with injuries?
The tight end field may have whittled a bit after free agency, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t still some teams that will need a tight end at some point during the draft or shortly after it ends and be willing to find out the answer.
“Fact is Zach Ertz plays the tight end position, which, after Kyle Pitts, it falls off a cliff,” said Pauline. “There are about seven teams, including the Indianapolis Colts, who would really like to trade for Zach Ertz. My feeling is Zach Ertz knows his time is up in Philadelphia and he’s ready to move on.”
Pauline believes Eagles GM Howie Roseman will hold on as long as he can trying to land a third-round pick.
“Because of the weakness of the tight end class, as Trey said, a team that’s desperate for a tight end, it’s late in the third round, they’re looking at their board and they see none of these guys are going to help us in 2021, let’s trade a third-round pick for Zach Ertz because we know Zach Ertz will be our Week 1 starter and our producer at the tight end position.”
Pauline also believes that there’s a chance the Eagles don’t trade Ertz until late in the draft or in the days immediately afterward.
In that case, he said, “It could be a conditional (2022) pick that turns into a fourth-round pick based on production or fourth-round pick that turns into a third-round choice.
"Obviously, it’s out of Ertz’s hands who he’ll be traded to, but I do feel if it’s a situation where he’s traded to a team that’s not going to be competitive in 2021, a la the Jacksonville Jaguars, whose name has been thrown around, he may say, ‘Listen, before I step on the field, before I head over to your franchise headquarters, I want to renegotiate a new contract.”
There's also the possibility of using Ertz to perhaps trade up in the draft, moving from No. 12 to, say, No. 8, where the Carolina Panthers reside and could use a tight end after trading for Sam Darnold to perhaps be their quarterback.
The Denver Broncos at No. 9 could also be in the mix now that they traded for Carolina QB Teddy Bridgewater on Wednesday afternoon.
In each case, the Eagles could potentially be moving up to take Alabama cornerback Patrick Surtain II, a player they like an awful lot, per sources, before the Dallas Cowboys, who also very much like Surtain, have a chance to take him at No. 10
Pauline also released his three-round mock draft on Wednesday morning.
He has the Eagles going this way:
WR Jaylen Waddle (12)
CB Kelvin Joseph (37)
LB Pete Werner (70)
OG/C Kendrick Green (84)
Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s EagleMaven and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.s
