Eagles and tight end Zack Ertz agree on contract extension

Zack Ertz (Matt Rourke/Associated Press)

The Philadelphia Eagles have signed tight end Zack Ertz to a five-year extension. The deal is worth $42.5 million, with $20 million in guaranteed money, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rappaport.

The deal makes him the fourth-highest paid tight end in the NFL, when it comes to average and guaranteed money, behind Jimmy Graham of the Seattle Seahawks, Julius Thomas of the Jacksonville Jaguars and Rob Gronkowski of the New England Patriots.

Ertz caught 75 passes for 853 yards and two touchdowns in the 2015 season. Out of 51 tight ends ranked by footballoutsiders.com, Ertz was ranked the 19th best at the position in 2015.

There was something else that was interesting about Ertz – what he said before the season began. “We want to win each and every game we go out there and that’s the goal, 16-0 for us right now,” he said in July.

He wasn’t the only one that had high hopes for the Eagles. In May, former Seattle Seahawks cornerback Byron Maxwell said that the Eagles would go far in the 2015 season. “We’re gonna go that far this season – meaning the playoffs and the Super Bowl,” Maxwell said in a May 2015 interview.

Unfortunately, the Eagles finished the season 7-9 and missed the playoffs for the second consecutive season. This caused the firing of head coach Chip Kelly. Since firing Kelly, the Eagles have hired former Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Doug Pederson to be their next head coach. They signed Pederson last Monday.