Long-time Eagles tight end Zach Ertz, who’s been out of football since being released by the Cards in November, is signing with the Lions and could play in the NFC Championship Game against the 49ers, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
According to Pelissero, Ertz is signing to the Lions’ practice squad but could be a game-day elevation when Detroit faces the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game in Santa Clara, Calif.
If the Lions win, Ertz would be on his way to his second Super Bowl. The Lions last won an NFL title in 1957.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Philadelphia sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
Ertz, 33, was released by the Cards on Nov. 30 after catching just 27 passes for 187 yards and one touchdown in seven games. He spent five weeks on Injured Reserve with a quad injury before he was released. He last played on Oct. 22 in a Cards loss to the Seahawks in Seattle.
Ertz has 742 career receptions, 8th-most in NFL history by a tight end. The Eagles traded him to the Cards in October 2021 in exchange for cornerback Tay Gowan and a 5th-round pick that eventually was traded to the Texans as part of the deal that landed the Eagles the 13th pick in the 2022 draft, which turned into Jordan Davis.
Ertz’s 579 receptions as an Eagle are 2nd-most in franchise history, 10 fewer than Harold Carmichael had from 1971 through 1983.
The Lions have one of the NFL’s best tight ends in Sam LaPorta, a rookie 2nd-round pick from Iowa. LaPorta caught 86 passes for 889 yards and 10 touchdowns this year and has 12-for-79 in Detroit’s playoff wins over the Rams and Bucs.
Philadelphia Eagles
But other than LaPorta, their other tight ends have just 15 catches for 119 yards and one TD this year.
Ertz, the Eagles’ 2nd-round pick in 2013, made Pro Bowls after the 2017, 2018 and 2019 seasons. His 116 catches in 2018 remain the most in NFL history by a tight end and the most by any player in Eagles history. A.J. Brown had 106 this past season.
After averaging 82 catches and 879 yards from 2014 through 2019 – 2nd-most among all tight ends behind Travis Kelce during that six-year period – Ertz has averaged just 46 catches for 423 yards the last four years.
In Ertz, the Lions are getting a playoff-savvy veteran who has 36 catches for 381 yards and two touchdowns in eight career playoff games.
He had 18 catches for 192 yards in the 2017 postseason, including two pivotal catches in Super Bowl LII over the Patriots – a 4th-down conversion from Nick Foles with 5 ½ minutes left and the Eagles trailing by a point and the 11-yard go-ahead TD from Foles with 2:25 left.
Ertz joins C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Kayode Awosika, Nate Sudfeld, Halapoulivaati Vaitai and Craig James as the sixth former Eagle on the Lions. Sudfeld and Big V are on Injured Reserve and James is on the practice squad.
Former Eagles center Hank Fraley is the Lions’ offensive line coach and long-time Eagles special teams coach Dave Fipp is in the same role in Detroit.
Subscribe to Eagle Eye anywhere you get your podcasts:
Apple Podcasts | YouTube Music | Spotify | Stitcher | Art19 | RSS | Watch on YouTube