A report just over a week ago by Ian Rapoport stated that contract negotiations between Zach Ertz and the Eagles had resumed. It didn’t take long for them to come to a grinding halt.
This should hardly come as a shock. The Eagles are close to $90M over the cap next year and the picture doesn’t exactly get magically better as time passes due to the amount of backloaded contracts. Just like Malcolm Jenkins before him, Ertz, who has two-years left on his deal, wants to be paid what he’s worth.
The previous offer being alluded to here was offered last season. Ertz declined an offer punching to the weight of Austin Hooper’s $10.5M average yearly value. It’s not really hard to see why considering the gulf in talent level between the two and what would later follow with the league’s two other top tight ends.
George Kittle set the ball rolling by signing a five-year contract worth $75M with $40M being guaranteed, making him the highest-paid TE in the NFL by quite some margin. Travis Kelce then followed suit by signing a 4-year extension worth $57 million that has $28 million in guarantees.
No matter how bleak the Eagles’ cap picture is, Howie Roseman can’t afford to let Zach Ertz slip away. Offering him a worse deal than one already rejected is not the best way to go about that. The good news is, Ertz has two years left on his deal so there’s plenty of room to reconcile and begin negotiations again….but one more stellar campaign is only going to increase his value, further complicating things for Roseman. It’s in his best interests to act now, but will he?
Photo by Nicole Fridling/Icon Sportswire
