Tight end Zach Ertz. Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Did Zach Ertz make mistake asking for release from Cardinals?

By Bruce Ewing | Last updated 12/31/23

As a former player for both teams, Zach Ertz is likely interested in this week’s game between the Cardinals and Eagles. Too bad the rest of the NFL showed little interest in the veteran tight end when he asked Arizona for his release.

Ertz came to Arizona via trade prior to the 2021 trade deadline. He played in 123 games in nine seasons as an Eagle, catching 579 passes for 6,267 yards and 38 touchdowns. He was Philadelphia’s leading receiver from 2016-19 and earned three Pro Bowl nominations.

He also had 67 yards and a touchdown to help the Eagles win Super Bowl LII, but with the emergence of fellow tight end Dallas Goedert, Ertz became expendable and was sent to Arizona for cornerback Tay Gowen and a fifth-round pick in 2022.

Zach Ertz scored the game-winning touchdown in the Eagles’ only Super Bowl win. Philly legend. pic.twitter.com/75yyJhSV1K
— BetMGM (@BetMGM) October 15, 2021

Ertz could never replicate his Eagles’ success with the Cardinals and thanks to a quad injury played only seven games in 2023. In his absence, Trey McBride, the team’s second-round pick in 2022, stepped up and his 743 yards are now seventh-most among tight ends in 2023.

Once again Ertz was expendable, but asking for his outright release was obviously the wrong move. He hoped to catch on with a contender and according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, had serious conversations with six playoff-ready teams.

As of now, the 33-year-old tight end remains unsigned, but he did make a comeback of sorts in Philadelphia recently. The Ertz Family Foundation distributed over 700 coats, hats and gloves to members of the Philadelphia community this week. Ertz and his wife Julie started the foundation in 2018 and it remains in the city even as Ertz moved on to Arizona.

So even if the NFL has moved on from Ertz, it appears he’ll always have a home in Philadelphia, assuming he cheers for the Eagles on Sunday.

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