Former Eagles star Zach Ertz spilled the beans on where he almost landed in a 2021 trade. It came down to the Cardinals and a top AFC team.
Former Philadelphia Eagles tight end Zach Ertz is currently playing for the Arizona Cardinals, but there was a scenario in which Ertz could have landed on a different — and better — team back in 2021.
During the 2021 season, the Eagles signaled that Ertz was for sale, and many NFL teams were reportedly interested in the star tight end at the time.
Philly ended up trading Ertz to the Cards for a fifth-rounder and cornerback Tay Gowan. Prior to the final trade and during the negotiation period, though, Ertz was being targeted by the Buffalo Bills.
Ertz said of the trade that never happened:
“I was getting traded out of Philadelphia. There were a couple teams extremely interested, Buffalo being one of them. It was almost a done deal, but it just didn’t get over the finish line.”
Ertz catching passes from Josh Allen in upstate New York? That would have been a sight to behold.
Zach Ertz had a potential trade suitor in the Buffalo Bills back in 2021
Later that season, the Bills fell to the Kansas City Chiefs in a legendary divisional round playoff game that saw Patrick Mahomes and Co. win it in overtime.
Coin tosses aside, Ertz would have been an intriguing fit in the Bills’ offense, which was stacked with Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis but could have used another pass-catching tight end to pair with Dawson Knox.
The 32-year-old tight end played in 10 games for Arizona last season, racking up 69 catches for 406 yards and four touchdowns.
Looking ahead, Ertz should enjoy a few more years of success despite the Cards being in their rebuilding era while over in Buffalo the Bills just drafted their Knox complement in first-round selection Dalton Kincaid.
Ertz’s story will be added to the overflowing archive of all the NFL trades that nearly happened — the league will never know what could or would have been.