Zach Ertz On Season-Ending Injury: ‘I Don’t Want It To Be The Last Play That I Have’

Veteran TE Zach Ertz made his desire to play in 2026 clear earlier this offseason if he’s healthy and can find a landing spot that makes sense.

Ertz’s 13th season in the league ended 13 games in when he suffered a torn ACL, which put his future in the NFL in doubt. After a long, successful career, Ertz doesn’t want to be remembered for ending on a bad injury. 

“I don’t want it to be the last play that I have,” Ertz said, via Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer. “Even talking to people now, and they do it out of the goodness of their heart, and [they say], ‘Man, that injury was tough.’ When people think of my career and that last play, I don’t want that to be the conversation starter. And so, for me, it’s just doing everything I can to get back to my best because I felt like I was playing really good football before I got hurt.”

Ertz, 35, is a former second-round pick of the Eagles back in 2013. He was traded to the Cardinals during the 2021 season for CB Tay Gowan and a 2022 fifth-round pick.

Ertz played out the final year of his six-year, $43.64 million contract that included $20 million guaranteed and a base salary of $8.25 million for the 2021 season. 

He was in line to be an unrestricted free agent when he agreed to a three-year, $31.65 million contract with $17.5 million guaranteed with the Cardinals. 

Ertz was due $8.5 million in the final year of the deal in 2024 when the Cardinals released him. He caught on with the Lions for a brief stint before joining the Commanders.

In March of 2025, Ertz re-signed with Washington on a one-year, $6.25 million deal worth up to $9 million with incentives.

In 2025, Ertz appeared in 13 games for the Commanders and caught 50 passes on 72 targets for 504 yards receiving and four touchdowns.

We have Ertz included in our Top 100 Available 2026 NFL Free Agents list.