Why Eagles are reuniting with Zach Ertz five years after trading former Super Bowl champion originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
After back-to-back gritty wins to open the season, the Eagles are set to welcome back a fan favorite in Week 3.
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Zach Ertz is signing with the Eagles‘ practice squad, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported, with the expectation that he will be elevated to the 53-man roster for Philadelphia‘s Week 3 game against the Bears.
It’s a reunion for both sides, as Ertz spent nearly nine seasons with the Eagles before being traded during Nick Sirianni’s first season on the job. With injuries taking a toll at the tight end position, the Eagles will see what Ertz has left in the tank as soon as next Monday night.
Here’s what you need to know.
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Why are the Eagles signing Zach Ertz?
The Eagles learned Monday that TE Dallas Goedert is set to miss a few weeks with a sprained MCL. While that’s not a worst-case scenario, Philadelphia is thin on in-house replacements.
This would be where rookie Eli Stowers could have stepped up, but Stowers is on IR after a difficult preseason, as is Grant Calcaterra. That left Johnny Mundt and E.J. Jenkins as the only healthy tight ends on the roster.
With limited options behind Goedert and Ertz still a free agent, the Eagles opted for a reunion with the 35-year-old rather than experimenting with Mundt, who has 76 career catches but has spent a decade in the NFL primarily as a blocking tight end.
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Ertz has been a standout pass-catching tight end for much of his career, which started with the Eagles in 2013. While he only played under Sirianni for a few weeks and doesn’t have direct familiarity with offensive coordinator Sean Mannion’s offense, Ertz knows the organization well enough to slide right in and potentially contribute as soon as next Monday night.
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When did the Eagles trade Zach Ertz?
The Eagles traded Ertz to the Cardinals during the 2021 season, with Goedert emerging as the team’s primary tight end.
While those two franchises are on opposite ends of the spectrum right now, the Eagles weren’t expecting to contend in 2021 while the Cardinals jumped out to a 7-0 start. Both ended up losing in the wild-card round of the playoffs, but it looked at the time like the Eagles were doing right by Ertz by sending him to a contender.
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Since 2021, Ertz has split his time between Arizona and Washington, with a brief playoff stop in Detroit. Ertz needs only 11 more catches to become the Eagles’ all-time leader in receptions.
Eagles TE depth chart
|
Rank |
TE |
|
1 |
Dallas Goedert* |
|
2 |
Zach Ertz |
|
3 |
Grant Calcaterra** |
|
4 |
Eli Stowers** |
|
5 |
Johnny Mundt |
|
6 |
E.J. Jenkins |
-
* — Out with MCL sprain.
-
** — On injured reserve.
With Goedert out for at least a few weeks and both Calcaterra and Stowers on IR, Ertz has a clear path to targets as long as he proves he’s physically ready to contribute. Mundt and Jenkins will enter Week 3 as the Eagles’ only other healthy tight ends, and it could remain that way deep into October, depending on Goedert’s recovery timeline.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
