Making a case for trading Zach Ertz

Zach Ertz the starting tight end for the Philadelphia Eagles is headed into his 8th season with the team. He is coming off of his 5th straight year with at least 74 receptions, 816 yards, and 2 tds, notching his 3rd probowl berth in a row. Ertz has helped lead his team to a Super Bowl Victory, and put up the most receptions by a tight end ever in a single season with 116. Ertz to his name has 525 receptions for 5,743 yards and 35 tds. He didn't rank nearly as high on the list of most receptions by a tight end as I thought but then when I began to compare him to the other active players it became apparent he is racking up statistics at a much faster rate. 

After 7 seasons in the league:

Jason Witten 523 rec. 

Travis Kelce 507 rec. 

Jimmy Graham 499 rec. 

Antonio Gates 479 rec. 

Tony Gonzalez 468 rec. 

Ertz has the most receptions by a tight end in their first 7 seasons in the history of the NFL, and only a list of future hall of fame players hold a candle to the amount of catches he racks up. He is not the explosive athlete that Jimmy Graham, Travis Kelce or Antonio Gates are, but he is however like a more athletic version of Jason Witten with higher upside in the redzone. 

I bring all this up to paint a picture of his value throughout the league. Ertz is as of right now the third best tight end in the league behind only Travis Kelce, and George Kittle. But at 29 he is nearing the point where most players begin to see a downturn in their play. He has missed 6 games over his career but that stat is misleading when trying to show the wear and tear this guy has taken while at times being the top target for the Eagles offense. 

It's no secret Ertz is seeking a contract extension and it's also no secret the Eagles are massively over the cap in 2021. They need to shed salary cap not sign players to record setting deals. George Kittle was just handed $15 million a year, while Kelce gets $14.3 million a year. It would not surprise me to see Ertz expect $14 million a year. Currently he sits around $12.5 million a year, considering his current deal runs through 2023 an extension would likely result in him suiting up for the Eagles until age 35. But as I mentioned our salary cap situation is ugly in 2021, trading Ertz can help. Turning the position over to Dallas Goedert who is still on a rookie contract would give Philly one more year before he was up for an extension. 

Jimmy Graham was traded from New Orleans to Seattle along with a fourth round pick, in exchange for a first round pick, and Max Unger a probowl level center. I propose a similar trade for the Eagles, with my most likely trade partner the Arizona Cardinals. The Cardinals have been building an explosive offense but their tight end position has lacked a big name for a few years so why not make a trade to round out their star studded offense with Zach Ertz coming to town. 

What would this trade look like? Ertz and 1 of 2 fifth round picks the Eagles have in 2021, in exchange for the Cardinals 1st round pick, and C/G Max Garcia. Garcia would add depth to this offensive line that has lost guard Brandon Brooks, and Andre Dillard to injury. Jason Peters was resigned to play right guard and has asked for a raise if he is to play left tackle which is actually a reasonable request in my mind. If Garcia comes in he can then serve as a kind of swing guard/center to provide depth behind Matt Pryor who has slid back and forth between left tackle and right guard as well. Max Garcia is 28 years old but with Jason Kelce flirting with retirement the last couple years Garcia can compete with Isaac Seumalo for the center job or slide back into left guard.