As Zach Ertz prepares for reunion with Eagles, he's building own legacy with Cardinals

Zach Ertz’s NFL career is about to come full circle, at least figuratively. When the Cardinals’ tight end meets his former team, the Eagles, on Sunday at State Farm Stadium, it will mark exactly 360 days since he was traded from Philadelphia to Arizona.

“I don’t think the emotion has hit me,” Ertz said after practice on Thursday, adding, “I’ve got a lot of good relationships still back there. … It’s going to be good to see those guys. But on the field, it’s going to be me vs. their defense. It’s not going to be Zach vs. Eagles.”

Many of Ertz’s most memorable moments came with the Eagles, including catching the game-winning touchdown in Super Bowl LII to beat the Patriots. There were other magical moments to be sure during his eight-plus seasons in Philly, none of which he will forget.

As much as Ertz was able to cement his legacy there, it wasn’t always the perfect of places for the 31-year-old from Orange, Calif. Ertz, after all, had to deal with some uncertainty at the quarterback position during his tenure with the Eagles from 2013 through midway through the 2021 season.

It wasn’t quite as crazy as all the QB changes Larry Fitzgerald had to withstand during his 17 seasons with the Cardinals, but it was bad enough. In nine seasons with the Eagles, Ertz caught passes from seven different starting quarterbacks: Michael Vick, Mark Sanchez, Carson Wentz, Nick Foles, Jalen Hurts, Gardner Minshew and 14 games with former Cardinal Sam Bradford.

When Ertz re-signed with the Cardinals on a three-year deal this past offseason, one of the biggest reasons why he said he did was because he wanted more continuity with a growing franchise quarterback such as the playmaking, dual-threat Kyler Murray.

“I’m sure he does. I can only imagine,” Murray said this week, comparing Ertz's situation in Philadelphia with that of currently suspended wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, “D-Hop was dealing with the same thing (in Houston with the Texans). I’ve never had to deal with coaches in and out and stuff like that, so I can’t really speak on it. I’m used to being familiar with my coach and having that stability.

“It does make a difference. I’m sure he (Ertz) will tell you the same thing.”

Murray made all the difference, Ertz said, when he realized a trade out of Philadelphia was inevitable. The writing was on the wall prior to the start of last season and when scoping out potential new landing spots, Murray and the Cardinals topped the list.

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“I thought I was going to play with Carson for a long time,” Ertz said, “but when I was figuring out where I could get traded, Kyler was a guy I was eager to play with if that possibility presented itself. You see the ridiculous plays. This is a guy who can make all the throws from the pocket, he can extend plays with his legs, and he can turn plays that really should have no shot at being successful.

“Like the two-point plays against the Raiders or the fourth-down play that week. He gives us an opportunity to win no matter what situation we’re up against. So, it’s a lot of fun playing with a guy like him. He’s super, super smart and super, super cerebral. We see the game extremely similarly.”

Philadelphia, in its second full season with Hurts starting, is doing just fine without Ertz. The Eagles are the only undefeated team in the NFL at 4-0 and they lead the league or are near the top in most major statistical categories.

That doesn’t mean they don’t miss Ertz, however. The things he brought to the franchise and the community were irreplaceable.

Eagles coach Nick Sirianni only spent a few months with Ertz before the tight end was traded for cornerback Tay Gowan and a fifth-round pick. Sirianni, though, said Ertz left an impression on Philadelphia and showed teammates the right way to go about their business, noting Ertz was a great mentor for young tight end Dallas Goedert.

“Zach’s a real classy guy,” Sirianni told reporters this week. “He works his butt off. My memories of Zach is the hard work he put in every day to be at his best. You saw that every day at practice. You saw that every day at a game. He’s still playing at a very high level and when guys work like that, it’s contagious and other guys see it and obviously Dallas was able to see that.

“He saw all the great playmaking ability that Zach has made in the past, how Zach’s an all-time Eagle. I saw it. Zach worked his butt off and I’m sure he still works his butt off and that’s why he’s still playing at a high level. I have a lot of respect for Zach Ertz.”

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So does Murray, who has leaned on Ertz repeatedly when the Cardinals are facing a do-or-die drive or whenever the offense needs a spark. The tight end position was never as valuable in Kingsbury’s style of play calling until Ertz joined the team and Murray can testify to it.

“Most of the time he’s always open,” Murray said. “Even if he’s not open, he’s good at being friendly to the quarterback. He’s a savvy vet, a security blanket — all those things I’ve never had. Playing with him is definitely showing me that the tight end is very important for a young quarterback and any quarterback really.”

Ertz presently ranks ninth all-time among tight ends with 657 career receptions. He needs six more catches to surpass Hall of Famer Ozzie Newsome (662) for eighth place. Ertz ranks 13th among tight end with 7,022 receiving yards. Since entering the league, only the Chiefs’ Travis Kelce has more receptions (730) or more receiving yards (9,328) than Ertz among tight ends.

In just 11 games with the Cardinals last season, Ertz tied Jackie Smith’s franchise record for most receptions by a tight end (56) and became the first tight end since 2003 to have 500 or more yards (576) in a season. With 22 receptions through four games, he’s on pace to smash the single-season record for catches by a Cardinals’ tight end.

He's starting a new legacy in Arizona and, noting he doesn’t plan to retire anytime soon, there’s no telling what he might do to the Cardinals’ record book.

“Obviously, that’s stuff is cool,” he said. “It’s something when you’re doing it, you don’t put too thought and effort into it. You just go out there and play great football. But when I’m done playing and when I’m able to reflect and take a deep breath, hopefully in the next four of five years — however long it may be — that’s when I’ll take a deep breath and kind of reflect on my career and what we’ve accomplished.

"And I say ‘we’ because I know I didn’t do this myself. It took a lot of people to get me here. It took a lot of great teammates along the way to put me in positions to be successful, coaches to put me in positions to be successful, so I feel like my career is a reflection of those that have impacted me in a positive light and in the time being, I’m trying to be the best tight end I can be for this organization.”

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He was one of the best to ever do it for the Eagles and come Sunday, it will feel a little surreal to play against them, he said.

“There’s going to be a lot of Philly fans there, I know that,” Ertz said. “Hopefully, the Cardinals (fans) don’t sell their tickets or anything like that to those guys. But I expect it to be a good atmosphere. We’ve got to find a way to win at home. We haven’t done it yet this year. We’re looking forward to it.

“It doesn’t matter where the game is. It could be played in the parking lot. I’d be looking forward to the game either way.”

Have an opinion on the Arizona Cardinals? Reach McManaman at bob.mcmanaman@arizonarepublic.com and follow him on Twitter @azbobbymac. Listen to him live on Fox Sports 910-AM every Tuesday afternoon at 3:30 on Calling All Sports with Roc and Manuch. 

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Former Eagles star Zach Ertz building new legacy with Cardinals