The Philadelphia Eagles ran into enough bad luck at tight end early in the season that they had to bring back former star Zach Ertz — a 36-year-old coming off a major knee injury.
It’s a bloodbath at the position for the Eagles, where the 2 players they were relying on to buoy the position are both sitting on the bench with injuries: starter Dallas Goedert and 2026 2nd-round pick Eli Stowers, who hasn’t played a game after starting the season on injured reserve.
Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox thinks the Eagles should trade for forgotten Dallas Cowboys tight end and 2023 2nd-round pick Luke Schoonmaker — a player who likely wouldn’t cost more than a 7th-round pick.
“Second-round pick Luke Schoonmaker has appeared in 15 more games in Dallas than Smith did, but he hasn’t made much of an offensive impact,” Knox wrote on October 2. “Schoonmaker has caught just 51 passes for 459 yards and three touchdowns, and he’s now firmly cemented behind starting tight end Jake Ferguson. He’s played just 24 percent of the offensive snaps this season. Now in the final year of his rookie deal, Schoonmaker is unlikely to establish himself as a starter in Dallas, and he’s not going to earn a lucrative free-agent contract with modest numbers. He would benefit from joining a team that either lacks a No. 1 receiving tight end or has lost one to injury.”
TE Luke Schoonmaker Might Need Fresh Start
Schoonmaker, 6-foot-5 and 250 pounds, is in the final season of the 4-year, $6.2 million rookie contract he signed after he was drafted.
At Michigan, he was a 2-time All-Big Ten pick and ran the 40-yard dash in an impressive 4.63 seconds at the NFL Scouting Combine.
Now, with the Cowboys, he finds himself buried on the depth chart behind not just Ferguson but also behind undrafted 6-foot-7, 270-pound tight end Brevynn Spann-Ford, who signed a 3-year, $18 million contract extension on September 10 — the surest sign the Cowboys have moved on.
“Versatile combination tight end capable of performing a variety of tasks in one-, two- or three-tight end sets,” NFL Draft analyst Lance Zierlein wrote in his 2023 pre-draft evaluation. “Schoonmaker steps foot on the field ready for action as a run blocker and does a nice job of competing in the entry and sustain phases of the block. He will need to add more muscle and play strength but already has a feel for creating run-lane angles with his footwork. He has the athletic talent to run a slightly expanded route tree, but he needs to do a better job of competing aggressively for catch space and meeting throws with extended hands. He could see action early but might need a year or so before he works himself into a full-time TE2 role.”
Eagles May Have Whiffed Big on Stowers
That Stowers is already dealing with injury issues is concerning, but it shouldn’t be surprising. He also dealt with injuries at Vanderbilt.
Stowers has seemed objectively lost in picking up the offense and admitted as much to The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Ryan Novozinsky.
“Biggest adjustment, I’d say, is probably the mental challenge,” Stowers told Novozinsky. “I think that the offense and the way the defenses do their schemes at this level, it’s a little more complex than it was in college. And so I think it’s a mental challenge, but that’s just about putting the time in and learning it and trying to get better with it.”
Eagles Trade Pitch Lands Forgotten 6-foot-5, 250-Pound Cowboys Tight End