Eagles legend Zak Ertz is based in Arizona.
Just a day before the start of the NFL legal intervention period, Ertz and the Cardinals agreed to a three-year deal to keep him in Arizona.
According to NFL network, the three-year deal is worth $31.65 million and guarantees $17.5 million. This puts Ertz’s median annual salary at $10.55 million, making him one of the top 10 highest paid players in the NFL.
If Ertz, 31, were to become a free agent this week, he would be expected to be one of the hottest players in the open market, especially after some were hit with franchise labels last week.
Ertz played the last 11 games of the 2021 season with the Cardinals after the October 15 trade. In those 11 games, Ertz had 56 catches for 574 yards and 3 touchdowns.
The deal fell through on October 15, when the Eagles sent one of their best players of all time to Arizona for a 2022 fifth-round pick and young guard Tay Gowan.
It was a long-awaited deal, but it didn’t make it any easier at the time.
After the deal went down, Ertz held an extended Zoom press conference to say goodbye to the city that had become home for the previous nine seasons. It’s quite rare for an outgoing player to hold a press conference, but for Ertz it was important.
“One of the things that annoyed me the last couple of days is when this was happening and people started to find out about it, you know, you’re going home, you’re going back to California, home to Julie,” Ertz said. in October. “This is home. Philadelphia is home. And it was hard. Just to kind of articulate it to people that I love this place. I said it all the time. And this is a great opportunity to be here, and I liked it here. I did my best , every day, and I can leave knowing this, and it won’t be the last time you see me here in this city.”
Ertz and his wife Julie still live in Philadelphia during the off-season. And their foundation is still operating in the city.
Ertz’s trade with the Cardinals ended the long saga between Ertz and the Eagles, and they were somehow able to end up on good terms. For a long time it didn’t seem like it would happen. Before the 2020 season, the two sides failed to reach a contract agreement, which caused some animosity between Ertz and the team. Ertz then had a slump in the 2020 season and it looked like it was really over.
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But Ertz showed up for training camp in 2021 and played the first six games of the 2021 season for the Eagles, including his last game, knowing he was going to be traded.
The deal ended for Ertz and Eagles. The trade gave Ertz the chance to become a true No. 1 tight end again, and Dallas Godert the chance to move up to that spot in Philadelphia. A month after Ertz was traded, the Eagles signed Gedert to a four-year contract extension through the 2025 season. This contract is worth $57 million with $34.9 million guaranteed.
Goedert was clearly a future position for the Eagles.
However, Ertz had a hell of a lot of Philadelphia appearances, including three consecutive Pro Bowls from 2017 to 2019, five straight seasons with over 800 receiving yards and a Super Bowl LII-winning touchdown.
Ertz ended his Eagles career with 579 catches for 6,267 yards and 38 touchdowns. He narrowly missed out on Harold Carmichael’s franchise acceptance record of 589.