Cardinals named a ‘realistic’ destination for Eagles TE Zach Ertz

The Arizona Cardinals are among the teams from around the NFL that could be interested in trading for Philadelphia Eagles tight end Zach Ertz.

In five of the last six seasons, Philadelphia tight end Zach Ertz has finished with at least 70 catches. During the entire existence of the Arizona Cardinals franchise, no tight end in their uniform has finished a regular season with more than 56 receptions.

Unless the Cardinals figure out a way to land Ertz, don’t expect any of their current tight ends to come out of nowhere to finish the 2021 campaign as one of the team leaders in catches.

Speaking of the Eagles tight end though, he hasn’t been a participant in the team’s OTA practices this year, and there’s a good chance that he won’t begin the upcoming season on Philadelphia’s roster.

Could the Philadelphia Eagles send Zach Ertz packing to the Arizona Cardinals?

Since Arizona’s tight end room is currently home to a bunch of castoffs and undrafted rookies, there are some who believe they would be interested in making a trade for Ertz.

Among those with this belief is Bleacher Report’s Maurice Moton, who recently listed the Cardinals as one of the teams that is a realistic destination for the Eagles tight end.

If Arizona were to land Ertz in a trade this year, he would have a cap hit of $8.5 million. The Cardinals currently have around $11.3 million in salary-cap space, so they could afford to add the tight end to their roster.

Ertz is currently in the final year of his contract, so the Cardinals would have to decide if they’re fine with giving up some draft assets to acquire a player who could be gone after only one season with the team. Unless, of course, Arizona is willing to give the veteran tight end an extension after they trade for him.

Ertz might not be the dangerous offensive weapon he once was, but acquiring him would give Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray another reliable pass-catcher to throw to next season.