Zach Ertz is an American football tight who currently plays for the Arizona Cardinals in the National Football League (NFL). He was traded by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 2021 NFL Draft to the Arizona Cardinals, and on March 13, 2022, he signed a 3-year extension worth $31.65 million with the Cardinals.

Who is Zach Ertz?

Ertz was born on 10th November 1990 in Orange, California. After a successful football career at Monte Vista high school in California, he committed to Stanford University to play his college football for the Stanford Cardinal football team between 2009 and 2012. At Stanford, he went from strength to strength as he established himself as a vital member of the Cardinals in his three years, and was named a finalist for the Mackey Award and was also an All-Pac-12 first-team selection. 

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After declaring for the 2013 NFL Draft, he was snapped up in round two (35th overall pick) by the Philadelphia Eagles on a four-year, $5.37 million contract that included $3.65 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $2.29 million. 

Ertz was named as the third tight end on the depth chart ahead of his rookie season and made his debut in the season opener against the Washington Redskins which the Eagles won 33-27. His first start came soon after, on September 29th, 2013, in the 52-20 loss at Denver Broncos. He finished his rookie campaign with 36 receptions for 469 receiving yards and four touchdowns in 16 games of which he had started three. His 2014 second season in the NFL continued his bedding-in period as he finished the season with 58 receptions for 702 yards and three touchdowns in 16 games and five starts. 

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The following year, 2015, marked his 3rd consecutive season chasing the position of first tight end at the Eagles; he was still behind Brent Celek in the pecking order. But change was on the horizon when the Eagles’ head coach was sacked following a poor string of results. Ertz was staking a claim to be the first tight end as he received more snaps, finishing with 789 offensive snaps (68.25%) to Celek’s 600 snaps (51.9%), and under new head coach Doug Pederson, Ertz was named the starting tight end in the 2016 season. He was also rewarded with a five-year, $42.5 million contract extension that includes $21 million guaranteed and a $8 million signing bonus. He responded with a season where he led the Eagles in touchdown receptions, receiving yards, and receptions after starting all 14 games. He finished with 78 receptions for 816 receiving yards and four touchdowns.

In 2017, he took his game ups a few notches further; he had already tied his most touchdown catches in a single season by Week 6, and by Week 7, he was leading NFL high ends in receptions, yards, and touchdowns. He finished 2017 with 74 receptions for 824 receiving yards and a career-high eight touchdowns in 14 games, all of them starts. He was ranked the 5th among tight ends by Pro Football Focus, and 68th by his peers on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2018.

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The Eagles finished on top of the NFC East with a 13-3 win-loss record, and in the playoffs, Ertz helped the Eagles to a 38-7 victory over the Minnesota Vikings in what was his first career start in a playoff. Ertz then started in the Super Bowl LII and helped the Eagles to their first-ever Super Bowl victory in the franchise’s history, catching 7 passes for 67-yards and a touchdown, and also catching the go-ahead touchdown reception in the fourth quarter as the Eagles narrowly beat the New England Patriots 41-33. 

The following season, in 2018, Ertz and Co took the Eagles back into the playoffs, but the team fell short in the divisional round losing out to the New Orleans Saints. He ended the season with 116 receptions, 1,163 yards, and eight touchdowns, and was ranked 40th by his peers in the list of NFL Top 100 players of 2019. 

Eventually, Ertz was traded by the Eagles on October 15th, 2021 with the Arizona Cardinals coming in for him in exchange for a cornerback and a fifth-round selection in the 2022 NFL Draft, and Ertz soon signed a 3 year $31.65 million extension with the Cardinals on 13th March 2022. 

Ertz married professional soccer player Julie Johnston on 26th March 2017 in Goleta, California, and in April 2022 announced that the couple is expecting their first child!