Sources: Zach Ertz is reuniting with the Eagles as tight end depth grows thin
On the day tests revealed Dallas Goedert sprained an MCL and will miss multiple weeks, the Eagles are signing Ertz, 35, to their practice squad.
The Eagles are reuniting with Zach Ertz, NFL sources said, confirming an initial ESPN report.
On the day tests revealed Dallas Goedert sprained the medial collateral ligament (MCL) in his knee in Sunday’s win over the Titans and will miss multiple weeks, the Eagles are signing Ertz, 35, to their practice squad. He is expected to be ready to play Monday night in Chicago — and could outright be signed to the open 53-man roster spot the Eagles currently have open — just over nine months from the gruesome knee injury that ended his 2025 season.
Ertz tore the ACL and lateral collateral ligaments in his right knee as well as his hamstring in December but did not want the last moment of his NFL career to be him being carted off the field with tears streaming down his face.
Ertz was cleared for football activity in July — seven months removed from his injury. He passed the pivotal nine-month post operation milestone a few weeks ago and is ready to play.
He joins an Eagles team in need of pass-catching talent at tight end with Goedert sidelined. Prior to agreeing to sign Ertz, the Eagles were left with two blocking specialists — Johnny Mundt and EJ Jenkins — on the depth chart. There may not have been a need for Ertz if rookie second-round pick Eli Stowers was ready to play. Stowers had a slow start to training camp and is on injured reserve while he recovers from a hamstring injury. Grant Calcaterra (back) also is on injured reserve.
It remains to be seen how impactful Ertz will be after a major surgery and recovery, but he was still an effective and dangerous receiver in recent seasons, especially in the red zone, where all 11 of his touchdowns with the Commanders happened over the 2024 and 2025 seasons.
Ertz caught 71% (116) of his 163 targets with Washington over the last two seasons, a rate that is higher than his career average of 67%. One game prior to suffering his injury, Ertz caught 10 of 13 targets for 106 yards in an overtime loss to the Denver Broncos.
Ertz, a 2013 second-round pick by the Eagles, was last with the team in 2021. The Eagles traded him in Week 7 that season to the Cardinals for cornerback Tay Gowan and a fifth-round draft pick. He spent parts of three seasons in Arizona before joining Washington in free agency in 2024, a decision he called “an opportunity for me to just fall back in love with the game again.”
Earlier this year, Ertz told The Inquirer that any bitter feelings he had about the divorce with the Eagles have subsided and he looked back on his tenure with affection. But his stint in Washington did feature a post-game dustup with Eagles coach Nick Sirianni following a 2024 game.
“That was two competitive guys that hate losing,” Ertz said in April. “We have a great relationship still.”
Ertz has played in 181 career regular season games and has 825 catches for 8,592 yards and 57 touchdowns. Only four tight ends in NFL history have more receptions.
He needs just 11 more catches with the Eagles to break Harold Carmichael’s franchise record of 589 to become the club’s all-time receptions leader.
Asked in April about Ertz getting that chance in, Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie said: “I would love him to get it, but not at the expense of what we need to do.”
Circumstances have changed, of course. The Eagles are hoping Ertz can still be a chain-moving target in the passing game and a reliable over-the-middle and red-zone option for Jalen Hurts.
Ertz never ruled out a return to the city where family’s foundation still does much of its community service.
“I think everyone knows how I feel about that place, that city, in particular,” Ertz said earlier this year. “I loved it, loved it. And I wouldn’t close that door either by any means.
“I still want to play. And I think the time to reflect is when it’s officially done. But I don’t think that is right now.”
Five months later, Ertz is back with the Eagles.
