Zach Ertz Growing Antsy As Howie Roseman Plays Waiting Game

With the Eagles still well above the salary cap with the deadline looming, could the Eagles GM have an alternate strategy when it comes to his Pro Bowl tight end?

It’s go-time for the Eagles.

The new league year begins on Wednesday afternoon and, as of Sunday at 8 p.m., they were still $18 million above the mandated $182.5M. They are one of just six teams still above the cap. The only teams in worse shape are the Bears ($192M) and the Rams ($33.9M).

Defensive end Derek Barnett’s $10M is an albatross that must be dealt with.

The Eagles would prefer to restructure his deal, but Barnett may not want to do that and with a contract like his, one who has battled injury since arriving in the first round of the 2017 draft, doesn’t figure to hold much trade value.

Depending on how things play out over the next 72 hours or so could determine whether or not the Eagles simply part ways with Barnett.

One helping hand on the horizon is parting ways with Zach Ertz. Shedding the three-time Pro Bowl tight end in either a trade or release would save them $4.9M. Not near enough, but it’s something.

Ertz is reportedly “antsy,” while waiting to see what his future holds, according to NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero, who added that Eagles general manager Howie Roseman is trying to extract a third-round pick, a fourth-round pick at minimum.

The #Eagles insist they won’t release three-time Pro Bowl TE Zach Ertz, and with multiple teams interested in a trade, Ertz is getting antsy for Philadelphia to get a deal done. @nflnetwork pic.twitter.com/W5T4skOlIR

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) March 14, 2021

Roseman can afford to be bold because there does seem to be a market for his tight end.

As SI.com’s Eagle Maven has reported for weeks now, conversations have taken place with the Colts, Seahawks, and Chargers, and the Ravens and Packers made offers at last year’s trade deadline.

Pelissero said there are teams interested in acquiring Ertz, but if a team wants to secure him, and not allow him to hit the free-agent market, then they may have no choice but to give in to Roseman and accept his $8.5M salary for 2021.

That’s not a terrible price considering the market for free-agent tight ends and a draft class that isn’t particularly deep at that position outside of Kyle Pitts, Pat Freiermuth, and Hunter Long.

The top tight end in free agency is Hunter Henry. Still just 26, the former Chargers TE will command big bucks compared to Ertz, who may be the second tight end in free agency, arguably a shade above Kyle Rudolph.

Critics will point to Ertz's down year in 2020 and that he missed five games with a high ankle sprain, but there certainly seemed to be some extenuating circumstances surrounding Ertz’s subpar season, most of which have been well chronicled.

Now, a team could be playing a game of chicken with Roseman, knowing that the GM will cut him anyway then hope to prepare their best offer for the free agent.

Would Roseman choose not to blink and hold on to Ertz beyond the start of the new league year?

That would require some other maneuvering to get to the cap threshold, and may, to go lower in order to be players in free agency, doesn't happen right away.

The Eagles aren't expected to be going to be players for the big-name talent anyway, so perhaps they continue to trim salary to get involved in the second wave of free agency.

If that is the case, then maybe Ertz remains an Eagle after Wednesday comes and goes.

That would not make him happy, and perhaps he deserves better after a standout eight seasons with the Eagles, but it’s a business after all, and Roseman wants to make the best deal he possibly can, so sitting tight beyond Wednesday could be in play, though the percentage is probably small that it happens.

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s EagleMaven. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.