The new five-year contract extension Zach Ertz signed with the Eagles yesterday makes him one of the five highest-paid tight ends in the game.
But he’s not looking to limit himself, now that he’s positioned to make a bigger impact than ever on the Eagles’ offense.
“My goal definitely isn’t to be top five,” Ertz said, via Paul Domowitch of the Philadelphia Daily News. “It’s to be the best in the league. That’s something that I’m going to take pride in [trying] to accomplish.
“I don’t play this game to be an average tight end. I play this game to be the best tight end I can possibly be and win as many football games as I possibly can. And I’m going to push myself to accomplish those goals over the next five years.”
It doesn’t take a long look at Travis Kelce’s numbers in Kansas City to think that Ertz could flourish under new coach and former Chiefs offensive coordinator Doug Pederson. And that’s clearly what the Eagles are banking on, after giving him a $42.5 million deal with $20 million in guarantees. His per-year average (which admittedly is kind of a bad way to measure contracts) puts him behind only Jimmy Graham, Julius Thomas and some guy named Rob Gronkowski in terms of salary.
While former Eagles president Joe Banner took shots at the deal on Twitter, Ertz suggested he didn’t want to risk playing out the final year of his rookie contract.
“This is the best deal at the right time that made sense for me,” Ertz said. “I’ve never played the game for money. I pride myself on being the best tight end that I can possibly be and I think this deal signifies that. I’m really happy with the deal. My agent did an unbelievable job.”
Of course, given the uncertainty at quarterback for the Eagles this offseason (the decidedly average Sam Bradford’s a free agent), banking what he can now might be the smart play regardless any increases in the future cap.