Five seasons after his departure from the Philadelphia Eagles, three-time Pro Bowl tight end Zach Ertz is returning to the City of Brotherly Love, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Ertz, who was picked 35th overall by the Eagles in the 2013 NFL Draft, is signing with the team’s practice squad. Schefter says the signing comes with the intention of promoting the player to the team’s active roster.
This announcement comes in the aftermath of an injury to Philly’s starting tight end, Dallas Goedert, who suffered a sprained MCL and is expected to be out for multiple weeks.
The injury to Goedert left the Eagles with only two tight ends: Johnny Mundt, who has just 76 catches across a nine-year career, and EJ Jenkins, a second-year player with just one catch in his career.
News of the acquisition was broken live on Monday Night Countdown where Ertz’s former Eagles teammate, Jason Kelce, reacted to the signing in real time.
‘Dallas has been having a heck of a year, really upset that he’s down, to be honest with you,’ Kelce said. ‘He’s been a great cornerstone of the offense.
Three-time Pro Bowl tight end Zach Ertz is set to return to the Philadelphia Eagles
Ertz (86) was a member of the Eagles’ Super Bowl LII winning team that beat the Patriots
Since 2021, Ertz played for the Arizona Cardinals and the Washington Commanders (above)
‘But listen, you don’t gotta talk me into Zach Ertz. That’s my guy. Got a lot of good memories with Zach, we had a lot of success, he’s entrenched in Philadelphia still.’
Ertz, 35, was a member of the Eagles team that beat the New England Patriots to win Super Bowl LII – the team’s first title.
He played eight full seasons in Philadelphia and part of a ninth before he was traded in the middle of the 2021 campaign to the Arizona Cardinals in exchange for cornerback Tay Gowan and a 2022 fifth-round pick.
Ertz finished the season with Arizona and signed a three-year extension in the 2022 preseason. However, he suffered a season-ending knee injury in Week 10 of 2022 that limited his production.
The following season, he once again suffered an injury – this time, to his quads – that led to him requesting to be released. He was waived by the Cardinals on November 30 of that season.
After a brief stint with the Detroit Lions on their practice squad, Ertz signed with the Washington Commanders in the 2024 season. Ertz and the Commanders made a surprise run to the NFC Championship Game that season before losing to his former team, the Eagles.
He stayed in Washington for the 2025 season, but suffered another season-ending knee injury after a rough hit while attempting to make a catch. The tight end had not signed with any team prior to his return to Philadelphia.
Ertz has the eighth-most receiving yards of any tight end in NFL history with 8,592 – sitting just 91 yards behind Greg Olsen in seventh-place. He also sits fifth all-time in receptions by a tight end. In both categories, Ertz sits second for career marks among active players – only behind Travis Kelce.
