Eagles stay or go: Tight end

The Philadelphia Eagles' 2019 season is over, and there will be a lot of interesting decisions made on the players currently on the roster, more so than in most years. Let's take a position-by-position look at who will likely be back with the team in 2020, and who won't.

Previous stay or go positional analysis

Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver

Today we'll look at the tight ends. (All money figures via OverTheCap.)

Zach Ertz

In his first four years in the NFL, Carson Wentz's most reliable target, by far, has been Ertz. On a team that has a long way to go to fix the wide receiver position, Ertz's importance to Wentz heading into the 2020 season cannot be overstated.

Opinions on Ertz's future with the team are wide-ranging. Many have suggested trading him to make way for Dallas Goedert, a young player who already looks like he might be a very good starter in the NFL, while Ertz still has value. Others are of the mindset that the Eagles should just pay Ertz whatever he wants in a new contract extension. Personally, I fall somewhere in the middle.

While there's some logic to trading him, I suppose, I wouldn't hold your breath. Ertz isn't going anywhere.

Meanwhile, there have been reports that the Eagles and Ertz were working on a contract extension during the regular season. Assuming that contract would be a major raise in pay, I'm not exactly sure why that would be a good idea for the Eagles, since Ertz is under contract through the 2021 season. The first new year of any contract extension will be the 2022 season, or Ertz's 10th year in the league, during which he'll turn 32 years of age. That also happens to be the year that Goedert will become an unrestricted free agent if the Eagles don't work out a new deal with him.

So, what's the rush? Yeah, OK, so contracts might get more expensive under a new CBA (and the thinking is that signing players now might result in bargains), but maybe it might be a good idea to wait and see if he stays healthy, and doesn't experience some sort of decline? Why commit market-setting type of money to Ertz now when there's a reasonable chance that Goedert will be better than him by the time Ertz's current contract expires?

Anyway, this is maybe a bit off of the topic of whether or not Ertz should stay or go in 2020, and it probably deserves more thorough exploration if/when contract extension talk heats up again.

#JimmyVerdict: Stay.

Your verdict:

Dallas Goedert

Goedert's first two seasons in the NFL:

And he's the best blocking tight end on the team.

#JimmyVerdict: Stay, obviously, and the Eagles' base offense should be 12 personnel.

Your verdict:

Josh Perkins

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Perkins is something of a wide receiver / tight end hybrid, in that he blocks like a wide receiver, and has the receiving skills of a tight end. 

#JimmyVerdict: Perkins is scheduled to make a non-guaranteed $735,000 in 2020, so he'll be back in Eagles camp with a chance to win a job, though the team might be wise to find a TE3 with some more blocking chops.

Your verdict:

Richard Rodgers

Rodgers has signed veteran minimum deals in each of the last two offseasons, and the guess here is that he'll sign another one this offseason, with no assurances of making the team.

#JimmyVerdict: Camp.

Your verdict:

#JimmyVerdict Stay or Go Results

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