It might have made sense initially for the Eagles to trade Zach Ertz before the Nov. 3 trade deadline but that’s not happening.
In fact, it reportedly can’t happen.
According to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, when the Eagles put Ertz on Injured Reserve with a high ankle sprain, they did so with a “minor injury” designation, which means they can’t trade him.
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Here’s the full blurb from Breer:
“The Eagles have gotten a lot of calls on their players as well, which makes sense given how their season’s gone and where their cap is the next couple of years. Alshon Jeffery is very clearly available. There have been calls on tight end Zach Ertz, too, and Philly delaying a day or two on moving Ertz to IR raised some eyebrows—this year, you have to designate guys on IR as having major or minor injuries, and guys categorized as having minor injuries can’t be traded. The Eagles designated Ertz as a minor injury, so that’s that on him.”
If the Eagles really wanted to trade Ertz, they could have kept him on the roster and wasted a spot on him, but they elected to put him on IR anyway.
Ertz, 29, has one more year left after 2020 on his current contract but hasn’t been shy about his wanting a new deal. He spoke publicly about that just before the start of the 2020 season.
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But then he went out and had a terrible start to this year. Through six games, Ertz has just 24 catches for 178 yards and a touchdown. He’s on pace for the worst season of his career.
So as far as maximizing their return, the Eagles were probably wise to let this play out. After all, Ertz’s trade value has to be down right now. He’s nearly 30, has seen a drop-off in performance and now he’s hurt.
If Ertz can return later this season — according to NFL Network, the earliest return would be Week 11 in Cleveland — he could bolster his trade value. If that happens, then the Eagles could theoretically trade him after the season for more.
Of course, there’s no guarantee the Eagles trade him at any time. But right now it seems like both sides aren’t really close to an extension, so there’s some validity to the idea of getting something for him while the Eagles can.
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