Commanders’ Zach Ertz Gets Honest On Brief Stint With Lions

Newly-signed Washington Commanders tight end Zach Ertz joined the Detroit Lions during the middle of the team’s playoff run this past winter, but never actually got on the field with the club.

However, Ertz said on Thursday that if the Lions were able to make the Super Bowl, he would have had a serious role.

“So the plan was initially, obviously, to come in for a week and learn the playbook and then have an opportunity to have a legitimate role in the Super Bowl,” Ertz said during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show. “When we were up 24-10 and then obviously everyone knows what happened, we didn’t finish the game. It was tough watching, I wanted to be out there.”

Actually, it was 24-7.

Ertz is referring to the Lions’ halftime lead over the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game before the 49ers stormed back for a 34-31 victory.

“The plan was to play in the Super Bowl, which would’ve been insane with everything that happened in the past year and a half,” Ertz said.

The 33-year-old began the 2023 campaign with the Arizona Cardinals and logged 27 catches for 187 yards and a touchdown in seven games before being waived.

Ertz spent the first eight-and-a-half years of his career with the Philadelphia Eagles, making three straight Pro Bowl appearances 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 scores.

He was traded to the Cardinals midway through the 2021 campaign, but was clearly on the decline.

Zach Ertz signed a one-year, $5 million deal with the Commanders this week.