Philadelphia Eagles debate table: 4 Arguments to support trading Zach Ertz

Does trading Zach Ertz make business sense for the Philadelphia Eagles?

Last season, the Philadelphia Eagles’ biggest strength on offense was arguably their tight end group, led by Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert. The duo accounted for 37 percent of the team’s passing yards and 11 of quarterback Carson Wentz’s touchdown passes. Together, they helped mask the attrition the team had at wide receiver, especially Ertz, as he acted as the ‘Birds’ de facto number one receiver.

Ertz is a top-three player at his position, nobody will argue that, and thus, we understand why he would want to be compensated accordingly. The Pro Bowler isn’t wrong for asking for a payday proportional to his status as one of the NFL’s best tight ends. It’s actually quite the contrary. Players must always max out their value since their window to collect a paycheck in the NFL is normally really short. Ertz and everyone that steps on a football field are one injury away from seeing their career end, so yes, they need to maximize their earnings.

Recently, Travis Kelce and George Kittle, arguably the only two tight ends better than Ertz, got blockbuster contracts. Kittle got a five-year $75 million deal while Kelce agreed to a four-year extension that will pay him an average of $15 million per year. Meanwhile, Ertz’s current contract is five-year $42 million pact, which pales in comparison to his peers even though they are in the same tight end echelon.

Most Philadelphia fans agree the ‘Birds’ should pay Ertz what he deserves. Here at ITI, we’ve previously outlined why it doesn’t make sense to get rid of him, but there’s another side to that story. The other theory can be argued as well. Here’s the other side if the same coin, four arguments that support putting a trade package for ’86’ together.