Philadelphia Eagles News

With a new head coach at the helm and a reorganization of roles within the front office, the Eagles will look to immediately identify and retain the cornerstone players around whom they would like to build moving forward. On Monday, Philadelphia made its first move in that direction, extending the contract of tight end Zach Ertz by five years beyond his current deal and locking him up through 2021. "Nothing could make me happier than knowing I’m going to be a member of the Philadelphia Eagles for years to come," Ertz wrote in a blog post Monday morning. "I love Philly. My family loves it. I love how passionate Eagles fans are about their football, how they live and breathe it... I couldn’t be more proud to be putting that work in for the Eagles, and for the city of Philadelphia. The 25-year-old is coming off a 2015 season in which he finished sixth amongst all players at his position in receptions (75) and seventh in receiving yards (853) with a pair of touchdowns. Those first two numbers were good for second on the team behind wideout Jordan Matthews and ranked third all-time among Eagles tight ends. Most impressively, perhaps, was the fact that Ertz improved dramatically as the season progressed. More than half his yards and nearly half his receptions came over the final four weeks of the season, with the 6-5 pass-catcher hauling in 35 balls for 450 yards, leading all NFL tight ends during that stretch and trailing only perennial Pro Bowl receivers Antonio Brown and Julio Jones. In the team’s season finale against the Giants, he caught nine passes for a career-high 152 yards, and the week before that he notched 13 catches for 122 yards. "My sincerest thank you to Mr. Lurie and the rest of the organization for making this commitment to me," he wrote. "I am committed to doing everything I can to be the best player I can be, and to help our team get back to the Super Bowl and win it." Ertz will address the media at 1 PM at the NovaCare Complex in Philadelphia. Tune in to PhiladelphiaEagles.com to watch the press conference live.

Philadelphia Eagles News

Zach Ertz Signs Five-Year Extension