TE Ertz happy to stay with Eagles
Zach Ertz wouldn’t divulge the dirty details.
But the Eagles’ tight end who had been so unhappy he nearly was traded offered insight Wednesday into the events that have kept him a part of the organization, at least for now.
In his first talk with the media since what looked and sounded a lot like a teary-eyed farewell speech last January, the Eagles’ single-season receptions leader with 116 grabs cautioned his audience to anticipate G-rated answers.
“I’m moving on from everything that happened this offseason,” Ertz said. “There have been apologies. There have been things that we’ve mended. Ultimately, I’m here, I’m excited to here and I’m excited to be a leader of this football team.”
Apologies are key in that Ertz blew up on Eagles general manager Howie Roseman in front of his teammates and then head coach Doug Pederson prior to the start of last season.
Now in the last year of a contract worth $8.5 million in base pay, Ertz was incensed that Roseman and the Eagles weren’t as committed to him as he was to them based on talks about a contract extension.
When the season began and Ertz tore ligaments in an ankle just before the trade deadline, lowering what little value he had, the writing was on the wall for the eight-year career who scored the game-winning touchdown in Super Bowl LII. What happened? “Things do change,” Ertz said. In this case, not only on the part of Ertz. The 30-year-old veteran intimated at least that Roseman, recently voted the least trusted general manager in the league by agents polled by The Athletic, was part of those apologies.
Instead of a simple yes or no, Ertz gave his spin on whether he felt the Eagles’ front office treated him fairly throughout the offseason.
“At the end of the day it’s a moot point,” Ertz said. “They were standing firm to what they believed was fair and ultimately I can’t fault them for that. They know how I feel about this city. I
truly love being here. What happened in the past is in the past. For me and my faith, it’s all about forgiveness and who am I to not be able to extend a forgiving arm?”
Away from the Eagles, Ertz experienced a rebirth after surgery on the ankle limited him to walking on crutches for two weeks, and then a walking cast for two more and in a boot for a month. Though there was no way he could pass a physical to complete a trade, the rumors kept on coming. And Ertz conceded there were overtures where he would be moving on. That’s when he surrendered to his faith.
“Those eight weeks were a grind,” Ertz said. “Every day it didn’t matter what was being written. I was focused on getting better. Yeah, there were things that were close, things that were not close. But the end of the day I’m glad I was here. I’m excited to be here. I think this is one of the best camps I’ve had in my nine years. I’m excited about this year.”
That rehab rebirth included side by side therapy with his wife Julie, the U.S. Women’s Soccer talent. She sprained an MCL just months before the Olympics. Ertz said they spent time in Arizona at the residence of Jordan Hicks, the former Eagles’ linebacker.
Having worked through a “freaking debilitating ankle injury,” Ertz came to the realization that if his wife, at less than 100 percent could play 45 minutes in her first game in the Olympics on a balky MCL, he could find that same focus on the football field. Ertz brings the inspiration to work and shares the energy each day with his teammates, including grizzled veterans Jason Kelce, Lane Johnson and Brandon Brooks, and rookie head coach Nick Sirianni.
“This is the most fun I’ve had coming to work in a long time, these past four weeks,” Ertz said. “Being with a new coaching staff, a young team, some of the vets like myself, Kelce, Lane, B, it’s been a lot of fun coming to work each and every day. It’s been freeing to just focus on football.
“Coming to compete every day has been a blast. And ultimately like I’ve said all along, this is the place I want to be, this is the place I want to retire. And those feelings haven’t changed.”
The chances of Ertz retiring with the Eagles are excellent. Among others, the Eagles have signed Donovan McNabb, Seth Joyner, Keith Byars, Trent Cole and others to one-day pacts to formally finish as a part of the organization.
Beyond that, it would be difficult for Ertz to continue playing say, the next five years or so with the Eagles unless he wants to take a pay cut. Tight end Dallas Goedert is the priority for the Birds.
Stranger things have happened. Like Ertz returning to play another season in Philly despite feeling disrespected.
“I know I can produce in this league at a high level,” Ertz said. “There’s no doubt in my mind that I can be exactly the player I was, if not better than I was the way everybody talked about me prior to this year. I know what I can do in this league.
“At the end of the day I’m a pro. I love this city too much to quote unquote, burn it down like some people wanted me to do at times. Because ultimately, I love this place.”