The Philadelphia Eagles quietly went about picking up the option for Zach Ertz in 2021, ensuring that he’ll be with the franchise for years to come per Tom Pelissero.
The #Eagles exercised TE Zach Ertz's 2021 option yesterday, per source. Strictly procedural. He's on the books for $8 million this season and $8.25M next season, with talks on an extension likely to pick up in the coming months.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) March 27, 2020
Ertz has two years remaining on his deal (2020 and 2021), is due $12.4 million in 2020 is due to make another $12.7 million in 2021 now that his option has been picked up.
The Eagles star reportedly turned down an extension that would have rivaled Austin Hooper’s 4-year, $44 million deal and as one of the top tight ends in the NFL, Ertz and George Kittle of the 49ers will likely reset the market.
Ertz signed a five-year contract extension worth $42.5 million in 2016, a bargain deal for the Eagles at the time.
Ertz previously converted $7.195 million of his 2019 salary to a bonus to provide the Eagles with cap relief.
The move saved the Eagles $5.756 million in cap space in 2019.