According to former teammate JJ Watt, Zach Ertz has requested his release and been approved by the Cards and hopes to sign with a contender.
Watt, the five-time All-Pro edge rusher, tweeted the news Thursday about Ertz, who spent his first 8½ seasons with the Eagles and caught 579 passes – the second-most passes ever by an Eagle, just 10 fewer than Hall of Famers Famer Harold Carmichael.
The Eagles traded Ertz for cornerback Tay Gowan and a 5th-round pick six games into the 2021 season, but while Arizona was 5-0 when Ertz got there, they were 6-6 the rest of the year and 4-13 last year, and they’re 2-10 this year under first-year coach Jonathan Gannon, who was the Eagles’ defensive coordinator the past two seasons.
Ertz caught 130 passes for 1,167 yards and eight touchdowns in 28 games for the Cards. He hasn’t played since Week 7 due to a quadriceps injury. He had just 27 catches for 187 yards and one touchdown in seven games this year before getting injured.
With the Eagles, Ertz was a record-setting tight end and a Super Bowl hero.
He caught 579 passes for 6,267 yards and 38 TDs in an Eagles uniform and made the Pro Bowl after the 2017, 2018 and 2019 seasons. In 2018, he set an NFL record for tight ends with 116 receptions.
In Super Bowl LII in Minneapolis following the 2017 season, Ertz made two of the biggest catches in Eagles history. After the Patriots took a 33-32 lead, the Eagles faced a 4th-and-1 just short of midfield with 5:39 left, and Ertz caught a short 1st-down pass from Nick Foles to make it Expand possession of the ball. Later on that drive, with 2:25 left, he caught an 11-yard TD pass from Foles, giving the Eagles the lead for good on their way to the franchise’s first championship in 57 years.
When Ertz moved to the Cards, he said he would like to one day return to the Eagles and make another attempt to break Carmichael’s record.
Is this possible?
The Eagles are thin at tight end. Dallas Goedert is still recovering from a fractured arm and did not practice on Wednesday, Grant Calcaterra missed practice on Wednesday with an ankle injury and Calcaterra and Stoll have combined for four catches for 27 yards this year.
Ertz turned 33 last week and assuming he clears waivers, his current contract with the Cards — a three-year, $31.65 million deal he signed in March 2022 — will be gone. Ertz is owed about $4.4 million for the remainder of the year and will receive a base salary of $7.96 million in 2024. Ertz has 709 career receptions, which ranks eighth in NFL history by a tight end and just five behind Jimmy Graham for seventh.