What would a Dallas Goedert contract extension look like?

In a press conference yesterday, Eagles TE Dallas Goedert met with reporters and discussed a multitude of topics. Among them was a potential contract extension. The 26-year-old is entering the final year of his rookie deal and stated that he’d love to spend his entire career in Philadelphia but is leaving negotiations to his agent. With Zach Ertz also in a contract year and facing an uncertain future, it looks as though the Eagles may have made their minds up. With that in mind, it’s worth looking into how a potential extension would look.

As things stand, the Eagles are spending a whopping $17.5M at the TE position, more than any other team in the NFL. Their salary cap issues have been well documented this offseason and 8% of their total is taken up by the big-bodied targets. In 2022, the team rank 18th in projected cap space with around $26M available, so could give Goedert a nice boost up front as opposed to backloading money…but how much are we talking?

Contract comparison

If we look at the average annual value of the highest-paid tight ends in the league, it’s safe to say that Goedert should safely sit in somewhere between the $10-$13M range in terms of production.

George Kittle: $15M
Travis Kelce: $14.3M
Jonnu Smith & Hunter Henry: $12.5M
Austin Hooper: $10.5M

Goedert’s 47 yards per game ranked 5th among all tight ends last year, despite his 524 total yards ranking him 16th. Admittedly, the offense was dire and Goedert missed time, playing in 54% of snaps in comparison to the 66% played in 2019. He has missed six games during his opening three years in the NFL and has battled some inconsistent hands during that time as well. On the other side of the coin, he’s racked up 1,465 yards and 12 scores in that span, showcasing his big-play ability and monstrous after-the-catch potential.

*It’s also ironic that we’re comparing Goedert to Austin Hooper, whom the Eagles decided to base their last offer to Zach Ertz on, prompting his whole 2020 saga.

Contracts to watch that could impact the value of Dallas Goedert

Where Howie Roseman shines is jumping the market and anticipating moves. He jumped the gun to pen Fletcher Cox to a new deal before the market reset and did the same with Carson Wentz, knowing that if Dallas signed Dak to an extension beforehand, that he’d naturally be paying a premium for the better player.

The Tight End market may not reach new highs for a while after both George Kittle and Travis Kelce received spicy new deals last offseason, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t players to note that could factor into Goedert’s projected value.

Above is an array of tight ends of varying age and caliber. It looks as though Darren Waller is in line for a big payday providing he can somehow maintain his stunning rise to prominence, while Eric Ebron is among the proven veterans who could act as a serviceable TE2.

If we were to rank these based on how much they’re likely to earn in their next contract, Goedert could well rank second or third behind Waller and potentially Engram depending on how this year pans out.

If Roseman is smart, jumping the market and offering Goedert a deal of around $12M over year over the course of four years, totalling $48M, that would place him above Austin Hooper and Zach Ertz, who as we know, dropped dramatically in terms of production this past year.

Whether or not he’ll make that happen is anyone’s guess. I recently put an article out stating how trading Goedert could also be a possibility because of how valuable he is. If the Eagles don’t believe they’ll have the funds to pay him, or think they’ll get significant bang for their buck, then this is an option going into his contract year as it was with Jordan Matthews. However, if Goedert wants to remain in Philadelphia and the team are actively trying to make that happen, then we can expect a deal around $48M.

Photo by Andy Lewis/Icon Sportswire