Top 5 extensions Philadelphia Eagles shouldn’t rush to get done

The Philadelphia Eagles and their star tight end are at an impasse.

For seven NFL seasons, Zach Ertz has given blood, sweat, and tears to this Eagles franchise, and last season, he gave them a rib and lacerated kidney versus the Dallas Cowboys in Week 16. He’s gone from a young tight end who had potential to a grown man among boys who’s arguably the third-best tight end in the game behind Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs and George Kittle of the San Francisco 49ers.

He’s even helped the Eagles contractually. On March 10th of 2017, he converted over $3 million of his deal to a bonus to help free over $2.5 million for the “Birds” to help with the contracts of others. Then, recently, over $7 million of his 2019 salary was transformed into another bonus that provided Philly with over $5.7 million for the same reason.

As the most recent offseason went on, “86” saw his number come up (literally). This time, he wants his money. In 2016, he signed a five-year deal worth $42.5 mill but stories have surfaced that he turned down the Eagles’ most recent offer. The aforementioned Kittle has also turned down an offer from the Niners. It looks like these two will reset the market, whether that be with their current teams or somewhere else.

On March 27th, Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network reported Philly exercised their option on Ertz which keeps him in the fold for both the 2020 and 2021 seasons. The Eagles have time to work on a deal if they wish, but you also have to consider that Dallas Goedert is set to become an unrestricted free agent in 2022 as well. It’s hard to imagine they’ll give huge deals to two tight ends, even if they’re both one of the top ten players at their position. It just isn’t cost-efficient. With all of that being said, this is one of the few times that working out a deal for a star later rather than sooner is the best course of action.