Getty Eagles tight end Zach Ertz went down hard against Dallas and fractured a rib.
The first domino has dropped for the Philadelphia Eagles and Zach Ertz. Both sides were waiting to make a move following the post-June 1st designation. The Eagles had never stopped listening to offers for Ertz, but those talks are expected to pick up more steam later this week.
The Buffalo Bills are the favorites after they converted $11.7 million of Stefon Diggs’ base salary into a signing bonus. Other leading candidates to land Ertz include the Indianapolis Colts, Arizona Cardinals, Los Angeles Chargers, Seattle Seahawks, Los Angeles Rams.
According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, three “tight-end needy teams” have reached out to Philadelphia but the Eagles have made it clear they don’t intend to just give Ertz away. That means the organization has no intention of cutting him from the roster without compensation. This thinking remains in line with what Eagles general manager Howie Roseman told reporters entering free agency and the NFL draft.
Talks on a potential Zach Ertz trade have been ongoing for quite some time but fairly quiet of late. At least three TE-needy teams have looked into this. Eagles have made clear they won’t part for nothing in return, making a release unlikely. Things could pick back up this week.
“We think Zach’s a good player, a good person and he’s under contract,” Roseman told reporters on May 1. “We’re always going to try to do what’s best for the Philadelphia Eagles and we balance that with our relationships with players that we care about. But that’s again like we started this conversation talking about our responsibility is to do what’s best for the team and that’s what it’s about.
“But this isn’t a guy in the twilight of his career. He’s a guy still in his prime. A year ago at this time everyone was talking about where he ranked with the top tight ends in the league. So we feel really good about the kind of player he is and we have to do what’s best for our team as well and again we have a lot of respect for him and continue to remain a member of the Philadelphia Eagles, if something changes, we’ll update you guys.”
Zach Ertz among TEs since 2018:
🥈252 catches (2nd)
🥉2,560 yards (3rd)
🥉139 1st downs (3rd)
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Why Does June 1 Matter Anyway?
Everyone was circling June 1 on the NFL calendar as the day for blockbuster trades to finally get executed. Why? It has to do with the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) and the way player bonuses affect the salary cap since those bonuses are split into two periods: pre-June 1, post-June 1.
For example, the Eagles can save $8.5 million with a post-June 1 trade or release of Ertz compared to $4.9 million with a pre-June 1 trade or release. Philadelphia can also spread out the dead-money hit on Ertz over two years if they use the June 1 designation: $4.2 million in 2021, $3.5 million in 2022. Prior to June 1, the entire sum ($7.7 million) would hit the books in 2021.
As a side note I already processed all the June 1 cuts today. Officially they kick in tomorrow but since the date sometimes causes confusion I just went ahead and moved them last night.
Here is how Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap broke down the June 1 designation:
What we are talking about here deals strictly with the acceleration of prorated bonus money onto the current years’ salary cap. The NFL essentially breaks up its salary cap accounting for bonuses into two periods with June 1 being the trigger date. When a player is removed from a player’s roster prior to June 1st all his remaining unamortized bonus money immediately accelerates onto the salary cap.
After June 1 the NFL changes the way the acceleration works. After June 1st only the current years expense remains on the books after the player is released. The balance accelerates onto the following year’s salary cap.
Nick Sirianni Watched ‘Ton of Tape’ on Ertz
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni sounded like a guy who would prefer to have Ertz on the roster in 2021. While that is very unlikely to happen — it ranks just below pigs flying — it was interesting to hear what Sirianni had to say about one of the best tight ends of the last decade.
“He’s showed that he’s a great football player for a very long time. Man, he’s made a ton of plays. I got to see a ton of tape on Zach,” Sirianni told reporters on May 14. “Obviously, when I got here this year and then also in 2018, my first year with the Colts, we watched a ton. So Zach is a heck of a football player, and he’s been a heck of a football player for a long time in this league.”
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