Zach Ertz has had a change of heart. In his first public comments of the offseason, the tight end told reporters that he wants to stay with the Eagles. 

“This is the place I want to be, this is the place I want to retire,” Ertz said (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo). “I’m moving on from everything that happened this offseason. There have been apologies…I love this city too much to burn it down.”

Ertz added that things have been “mended” with the team, so it sounds like all is well for the time being. It’s a huge turnaround from where things were just weeks ago. The three-time Pro Bowler pushed for a trade and, while he still reported to training camp, his Philly future was in doubt. The Eagles tried to oblige, but they couldn’t find a suitable deal for Ertz or his contract.

Ertz, 31 in November, is coming off of a down year. Now, with one season to go on his five-year, $42.5MM deal, he’s willing to stick it out. It remains to been seen whether Ertz will get an extension to help smooth things over, or whether he’ll be comfortable with his role in the long run. Once a focal point of the Eagles’ offense, Ertz figures to cede many of his targets to Dallas Goedert.

Zach Ertz may continue to push for a trade out of Philadelphia, but the organization is expecting him to play for the Eagles…at least for Week 1. GM Howie Roseman told reporters that he anticipates the veteran tight end being on the Eagles roster for the start of the 2021 season.

“When you talk about Zach, it doesn’t take a lot to get him here. He cares so much about this team and this city. Just really good to see him out there,” Roseman said (via ESPN’s Tim McManus). “When you talk about the guys that are here and the kind of player that he is and you think about our young skill position group and having a Pro Bowl player like that on your roster players can learn from, it’s huge for us.”

Ertz reported to training camp yesterday, but the veteran still wants to be traded. The three-time Pro Bowler reportedly hasn’t “forgotten or forgiven” the Birds for their apparent disagreements, and his decision to attend camp was presumably about avoiding fines. Of course, the Eagles would have to find a taker for Ertz, and while they’ve gotten a few bites, the organization still hasn’t found an offer to their liking.

Ertz will turn 31 in November and he’s coming off of a down year. With one season left on his five-year, $42.5MM deal, it’s hard to say whether Roseman will get what he wants. Of course, Ertz’s issues with the Eagles have been extremely public, so teams are willing to wait things out until the price comes down. Roseman’s comments from today could simply be posturing as he continues to find a suitor.

Zach Ertz has clocked in. The Eagles tight end reported to training camp on Tuesday, avoiding fines and further friction with team management. 

Ertz and the Eagles have been at odds throughout the offseason. However, he still wants a trade to take him out of Philadelphia, according recent word from NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo (via Twitter). Ertz, he says, hasn’t “forgotten or forgiven” the Birds for all the disagreements they’ve had. So, just because Ertz is in the building, that doesn’t mean that he’ll be on the roster come September.

The Eagles have gotten some bites, but no one has been willing to meet GM Howie Roseman’s asking price. He reportedly wants a third or fourth-round pick, but Ertz will turn 31 in November and he’s coming off of a down year. With one season left on his five-year, $42.5MM deal, it’s hard to say whether Roseman will get what he wants. Of course, Ertz’s issues with the Eagles have been extremely public, so teams are willing to wait things out until the price comes down.

Before the drama and the down year Ertz three consecutive Pro Bowls from 2017-19. For years, he consistently performed as one of the league’s better tight ends. Even if some suitors can’t afford his cap hit, there are plenty of teams that could use a player like him.

Zach Ertz may still be pushing for his way out of Philadelphia, but that won’t stop him from attending camp. NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reports (via Twitter) that the veteran tight end is expected to report to the start of Eagles training camp.

[RELATED: Finding A Zach Ertz Destination]

This echos a report from earlier this week by veteran reporter Howard Eskin (on Twitter), who noted that Ertz would indeed be attending training camp. Eskin took it a step further, noting that Ertz was “over the issues” with the organization, and the reporter believes there’s a “great chance Ertz will be on [the Eagles] at start of season.”

However, Garafolo slightly pushed back at that report. Ertz hasn’t “forgotten or forgiven” the various issues he’s had with the organization, per Garafolo, and the reporter believes there’s still a chance the tight end isn’t on Philly’s roster by the start of the season. Garafolo attributes Ertz’s decision to attend training camp to professionalism, noting that the veteran had never threatened to skip camp. Further, Garafolo says we shouldn’t read too much into the fact that Ertz has recently been working out at team facilities.

We previously heard that Ertz wasn’t going to report to the team “until his situation is resolved,” which we assumed meant he wanted a trade or his release. Ertz was given permission to seek a trade months ago, but nothing has materialized. Although there has reportedly been some interest, no one has been willing to meet GM Howie Roseman’s apparent asking price of a third or fourth-round pick.

Ertz, who will turn 31 in November and is coming off a down year, is entering the final year of his contract. 2020 was a big disappointment, but he made three straight Pro Bowls from 2017-19 and has consistently been one of the league’s better tight ends for a while now.

The last update we had on Zach Ertz was a couple of weeks ago, when it looked like things might be headed in the right direction between him and the Eagles. That apparently wasn’t the case.

Philadelphia passed on adding a tight end in the draft, and the chances were starting to look better that he’d stay with the Eagles for 2021. However, Ertz was not among the players who showed up for the start of Phase 2 of Philly’s offseason program, a source told Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link).

Further, McLane writes that Ertz “isn’t expected to report for the remainder of the offseason program or until his situation is resolved,” which he says means either being “traded or released.” Ertz was given permission to seek a trade about two months ago, but nothing has materialized.

Although there has reportedly been some interest, no one has been willing to meet GM Howie Roseman’s apparent asking price of a third or fourth-round pick. We’re now in the middle of a stalemate. Ertz, who will turn 31 in November and is coming off a down year, is entering the final year of his contract.

2020 was a big disappointment, but he made three straight Pro Bowls from 2017-19 and has consistently been one of the league’s better tight ends for a while now. We should have another update on him soon, and as of right now it appears unlikely he’ll be catching passes from Jalen Hurts this season.

The Eagles did not select a tight end in last week’s draft, and even though they gave TE Zach Ertz permission to seek a trade in March, no one has been willing to meet their asking price as of yet. So Ertz and Dallas Goedert remain atop Philadelphia’s tight end depth chart.

Does that mean that Ertz will play out the last season of his current contract with the team that made him a second-round pick in 2013? Not necessarily, but as Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk suggests, it looks like a much stronger possibility than it did two months ago.

In speaking about the situation during a press conference last weekend, GM Howie Roseman called Ertz a “guy still in his prime.” He added, “we think Zach’s a good player, a good person and he’s under contract.”

Although Ertz, 30, is coming off his worst season in the NFL — a season in which he missed five games due to an ankle injury — he earned Pro Bowl nods in each of the previous three years. At his best, he is one of the top tight ends in the game, and his $8.5MM salary for 2021 is not prohibitive for a player of his talents. Given that, and given that the Eagles were seeking just a third- or fourth-round pick in a trade, it’s a little surprising that Roseman hasn’t been able to find any takers.

Perhaps that will change as teams reevaluate their rosters after the draft, or perhaps Roseman will hang onto Ertz. After all, the team is set to start second-year pro Jalen Hurts at quarterback — the alleged “open competition” notwithstanding — and it would make sense to surround him with as much skill position talent as possible.

Roseman’s comments, though, hardly preclude a trade. If a deal comes together after June 1, the Eagles will save about $4MM of cap space when factoring in the dead money they would also absorb. They would also carry $1.74MM in dead money in each of the 2022 and 2023 seasons, which are void years tacked onto the end of Ertz’s deal.