Zach Ertz signed a one-year deal with the Washington Commanders earlier this week, and a big reason why he did was the presence of new offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury.
Kingsbury was Ertz’s coach for most of his tenure with the Arizona Cardinals, which ranged from the middle of 2021 through the first half of 2023.
Ertz appreciates everything Kingsbury did for him with the Cardinals, so he felt comfortable joining a Commanders squad for which Kingsbury will be calling the plays.
“Kliff has been a huge part of my success the past few years in Arizona and so when he got the job in Washington and I was a free agent, it was very easy for me to say, ‘hey, this is a place that I would love to play for,’” Ertz said on The Pat McAfee Show. “They’ve essentially redone the entire building since I came into the league. New owner, new G.M., a new head coach and I’ve never heard anyone say a bad word about Dan Quinn and so I’m extremely excited to play for him and to get back on the East Coast is going to be fun.”
Arizona initially acquired Ertz in a midseason trade with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2021. In 11 games with the Cardinals that year, the veteran tight end logged 56 catches for 574 yards and three touchdowns.
Ertz then proceeded to catch 47 passes for 406 yards and four scores in an injury-riddled 2022, and this past season, he totaled a mere 27 catches for 187 yards and a touchdown before being waived by Arizona. That came after the Cards canned Kingsbury earlier in the campaign.
While it seems blatantly obvious that Ertz is far from the elite pass-catcher he once was, perhaps reuniting with Kingsbury can help him revitalize his career.
The 33-year-old spent the first eight-and-a-half years of his career with the Eagles, making three straight trips to the Pro Bowl between 2017 and 2019. His best season during that stretch came in 2018, when he hauled in 116 receptions for 1,163 yards and eight touchdowns.
Now, Zach Ertz will be facing Philadelphia twice in 2024.
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