Getty Zach Ertz didn't get picked up by the 49ers on the waiver wire.
San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan addressed the possibility of signing Zach Ertz a day after the tight end got waived by the Arizona Cardinals.
“No, I don’t think so,” Shanahan told reporters on Friday, December 1.
Ertz cleared waivers on Friday afternoon, and the Philadelphia Eagles may sign Ertz instead according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The former Stanford star began his NFL career with the Eagles and won a Super Bowl with the team in the 2017 season.
Philadelphia has a need at tight end before the Week 13 showdown with the 49ers. Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert remains questionable for the game.
San Francisco could have used a second quality tight end to pair with George Kittle. The 49ers star tight end has 46 receptions for 667 yards and five touchdowns this season, but San Francisco doesn’t have a consistent pass-catcher at tight end after Kittle.
Ertz has 27 catches for 187 yards and a touchdown this season for the Cardinals—all well below his output in recent years. He had 47 receptions for 406 yards and four touchdowns the year before with the Cardinals.
San Francisco could also sign Ertz as a free agent despite no waiver claim. Ertz had an $11 million cap hit from his Cardinals contract, a significant hit for any suitor on the waiver wire.
The 49ers or another team could sign Ertz at an affordable price. However, the Eagles look like contenders to snag Ertz based on Schefter’s report.
‘Almost Everything’ About the Eagles Keeps Kyle Shanahan up at Night
If Goedert doesn’t play for the Eagles on Sunday or the team doesn’t add Ertz, that hardly lessens the concern for Shanahan.
“Almost everything,” Shanahan said about what keeps him up at night when it comes to the Eagles. “A real good team. Really good offense. Really good defense. Really good special team. So, it goes back and forth.”
Philadelphia bounced the 49ers 31-7 from the NFC Championship Game last January, but that occurred when the 49ers lost quarterback Brock Purdy to an elbow injury early in the game.
1 Thing Feels Similar for Kyle Shanahan in Eagles Rematch
Brock Purdy with right elbow injury. UCL sprain probable. If pain controlled and doctor feels joint stable return possible.
Shanahan and company have avoided comparisons between that NFC Championship game and the Week 13 one all week, but he acknowledged that preparation is feeling as good as the last time.
“Yes. I mean, very rare that we haven’t felt that way,” Shanahan said. “Especially I think then we were on a big win streak into the NFC Championship Game. So we felt the same way going to that game that they felt and probably as the two AFC teams felt.”
The Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills couldn’t beat the Eagles in the past two weeks, but both AFC powers pushed Philadelphia to the limit.
“Everyone’s real confident at that time. I think that’s what we made a big statement on,” Shanahan said about last season’s NFC Championship. “The one thing that was weird about that game is none of us had been in a game that you lost all your quarterbacks and that’s what was a little different. But, besides that we thought it would’ve been a real good game.”
“Doesn’t mean we would’ve done anything, but we were excited to play in it,” Shanahan added. “You go back and watch the tape, I love how we played. The intent of it, we were ready for it, but didn’t go the way we wanted it to.”