In possible farewell, teary Ertz expresses ‘love’ for city

A teary-eyed Zach Ertz said Monday that he wants to return for a ninth season with the Eagles, but he understands the business side of football.

For players 30 years and older, that business can be cruel.

The Pro Bowl tight end said he won’t “hold grudges” if the Eagles move in another direction. By the end of the 22-minute Zoom call, Ertz sounded like someone who expects to be playing elsewhere next season.

“I’m not the greatest Eagle by any means,” he said. “I would say for you young players, the city is tough but they’re honest. It’s not a city that cares about how you feel you did, whether you had a great day or a terrible day. I don’t think I ever made an excuse.

“Whenever I didn’t play well enough, I just wanted to go out there and work because that’s the only thing I knew could flush the system and get me on to the next day. And I think, for me, the foundation that we have here in Philadelphia has been a pleasure.”

Ertz wiped away tears as he talked about his legacy. In 2018, Ertz set the singleseason NFL record for receptions by a tight end (116) and caught the game-winning touchdown in Super Bowl LII. In his first seven seasons, he registered more receptions (525) than any other tight end in league history.

“I think this city is the best city to play for and I couldn’t have asked for a better experience,” he said. “The city means a lot to me, it means a lot to my family and I’m thankful. And I’m thankful for all you. I know you have a tough job in this city. Earlier in my career I took a lot of things personally and over the years I started to put myself in your shoes, and you guys have so much to do. Everyone’s got to read something good and you guys consistently tried to do that. So I really appreciate all of you over the years and thank you.”

Considering the state of the franchise, it could make business sense for the Eagles to part ways with Ertz. The team can open $5 million in salary cap space if they deal him.

Ertz averaged 86 catches and 914 yards with five touchdowns from 2015 to 2019. This year, because of lingering ankle injuries, he was limited to 36 receptions for 335 yards and one score, which came in the first game of the season.

“I truly love everything this organization stands for because Mr. (Jeff) Lurie, Howie (Roseman) and Doug (Pederson) run it a certain way,” Ertz said. “So for me I’ll never hold a grudge. Everyone’s trying to do their job to the best of their abilities, just like I am each and every week, and I’m excited about the future.”

After Sunday’s seasonending loss to Washington,

Ertz was last to leave the field. A while later he returned to the sideline with deposed quarterback Carson Wentz and center Jason Kelce.

Ertz insisted the longtime teammates were not reminiscing about their time together, nor were they discussing whether Sunday was the end. But it made for a symbolic scene, three of the best players of the Eagles’ last decade, instrumental in delivering the team’s only Super Bowl win.

“Probably the toughest part about this year was not being able to sit around the cafeteria and just BS with the guys ... so last night was just one more opportunity to do that,” Ertz said. “The three of us, we think very similarly in terms of the game of football. It was just a situation to talk. There was no talking about this could be the last time we do this, it was just talking about football, talking about the season and what we can do better.”

Ertz is sympathetic to Wentz, whom he sees as a “franchise quarterback.” He said he’d love to continue playing with Wentz, wherever that might be. As for the ESPN report that Wentz wants out of Philly, Ertz said he takes such reports “with a grain of salt.”

“Nobody wants to be a backup anything in this league,” Ertz said. “I don’t want to be a backup tight end, Carson Wentz doesn’t want to be a backup quarterback. I haven’t spoken to him about his future.”

Ertz didn’t blame the lack of production this year on the conronavirus pandemic, which robbed every team of OTAs and a preseason to work out the kinks. The chemistry between Wentz and Ertz was gone this year.

“We just weren’t clicking early on. It was dumbfounding to a certain extent because we’ve been together for so long, we can pretty much tell each other exactly what the other person’s going to do based on the coverage, based on the look, based on the week of preparation,” Ertz said. “We couldn’t really pinpoint it, but the thing we were going to do was continue to work at it. Unfortunately when I got hurt we never really got that opportunity to right the ship, and when I came back he got benched the following week, so we weren’t able to get on the same page. I think it was just a tough year.”

Ertz doesn’t think a change of scenery is mandatory to become a Pro Bowler again. He reiterated his desire to remain in Philadelphia.

“Everyone knows the situation, but at the end of the day I love being a Philadelphia Eagle,” he said. “I feel like I still have a lot of good years of football left, a lot of good years being a really productive tight end in this league. So for me, it’s what is the plan going forward? Whether they see me as a part of that plan or not, there’s a lot of things out of my control. I’ll have no angst either way.”