Eagles’ Dallas Goedert says he and Zach Ertz remain tight, as speculation builds over contracts, commitments

If there is going to be drama in the Eagles’ tight end room over contracts, it isn’t happening this year, from what Dallas Goedert told reporters on Monday.

The context – new contracts this month for a pair of elite tight ends, San Francisco’s George Kittle (five years, $75 million) and Kansas City’s Travis Kelce (four years, $57.25 million). Meanwhile, Zach Ertz has two years left on a five-year, $42.5 million pact. He’s due for an upgrade, but Goedert, entering the third season of his four-year, $5,624,271 rookie deal, complicates the picture.

The short version is, the Eagles could end up paying top-of-the-market salaries to two tight ends, which almost never happens in the NFL. (But that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t or can’t happen.) Or they could at some point trade one of these assets, more likely Ertz, who turns 30 in November. Goedert turns 26 in January.

The Eagles are expected to try to keep both players happy, but that might not be easy.

Goedert acknowledged that, of course, the Kittle and Kelce contracts were grist for discussion in the tight end room.

“You always know who the top moneymakers are at your position, you know what the top money is,” he said. “After Kittle got signed, you go in and you say, ‘Man, you see what he got?’ ‘Yeah, that’s awesome, good for him.’ Happy for those guys, happy that the tight end position is seen as more valuable.”

Goedert said he would be happy for Ertz, if a new deal is reached, without worrying about whether there would be any money left for him.

“Zach deserves a contract here, he’s been here, been a top-three tight end in the league. Personally, I believe he’s been the best in the league for the last bunch of years, so he definitely deserves whatever he’s about to get, and I’ve just got to let this year play out,” Goedert said.

“It’s not even time to worry about the future. The last two years, me and Zach have been here, we’ve both played good football, we’ve been in the playoffs. I think we can do whatever we want when that time comes, but for him, excited to see what he can do.”

Goedert clearly sees himself as more than a sidekick to Ertz, but that doesn’t seem to have affected their relationship.

“It’s been a really good relationship,” he said. “Zach’s helped me a ton along the way, telling me about defenses he sees, to the way he carries himself in the building, each and every day. He holds the tight end group to a very high standard. He’s out there every day competing as hard as he can.

“When we’re in the game together, we can play off of each other a lot. We can change up the positions we’re in; if one person wants to do this, [or] if one person’s tired, they can move over here. If we like a matchup more, we can swap around. I think being able to play alongside him has helped us both.”

It will be interesting to see if both players feel they are getting the ball enough, once the season starts. The Eagles hope their wideout group will be a lot more dynamic than it was in 2019. And there are plans for expanding second-year running back Miles Sanders’ pass-catching role.

The Eagles used “12-personnel” – two tight ends, one running back – on more than half their snaps last season. Will they continue that trend, with a healthy DeSean Jackson, and a first-round rookie wideout in Jalen Reagor?

“If it was my decision, I’d have 12-personnel on the field every play. But that’s up to the coaches to decide,” Goedert said. “I think they will find new ways to get us both involved, new ways to move us around in the offense.”

He hopes the more explosive wideout group will mean he and Ertz are open more often underneath. Ertz has expressed a similar thought; this was what was supposed to happen last year, before Jackson got hurt.

Goedert’s offseason was a bit more eventful than that of many of his teammates, stuck in pandemic lockdown mode. Early on June 20, in an Aberdeen, S.D., bar, Goedert was abruptly punched and knocked unconscious. Authorities charged a 29-year-old Florida man, Kyle Hadala, with simple assault.

At the time, a source familiar with Goedert’s account of the incident told the Inquirer that Goedert “was with some friends and family, and two guys kept saying disrespectful things.” The source said Goedert walked over to “tell them to chill,” and was punched.

After his arrest, Hadala told TMZ that his group and Goedert’s group had argued at a previous bar that evening over the music Hadala’s group was playing on the jukebox. Hadala said he was protecting a friend when he punched Goedert, though security footage does not show Goedert throwing any punches, and he has not been charged with any offense.

Monday was the first time Goedert has spoken with reporters since the incident. Asked about pending court proceedings and whether he was injured, he said: “I haven’t had to deal with [the legal system] too much. The next day I was perfectly fine. They put me through concussion protocol just to be safe, but I feel great. Happy to be here, happy for the season to get going.”

Currently, Goedert is practicing with a hairline fracture in his left thumb, suffered last week. He dropped a would-be touchdown pass in Sunday’s practice, wearing a cast on his left hand.

“It’s just something that I’ve got to get used to. It will be gone ... hopefully, by the time the season starts,” he said. “Right now, I’m just playing without my left thumb. That takes a little bit of getting used to, but from [Sunday to Monday] I feel like I came a long way, to get used to the feel of it, how it affects different things.”

Goedert went from 33 catches for 334 yards as a rookie to 58 for 607 last season, but when asked about goals for improvement on Monday, he didn’t say anything about receiving.

“My pass pro[tection]. I was pretty good at it last year, but sometimes your feet get out of whack, and usually you’re blocking someone that, all day, every day, that’s what they try to do, is get to the quarterback,” he said. “Just being able to get my feet right, make my hand placement better, there’s a lot of little things I can do to improve my game.”