The Buffalo Bills and Philadelphia Eagles were linked together quite often this week, as the Bills were thought to be a suitor for tight end Zach Ertz. After the team signed tight end Jacob Hollister to a one-year contract, reports leaked that the teams weren’t all that close after all.
According to Marcel Louis-Jacques at ESPN, a league source indicated that there was “nothing there” between the Bills and the Eagles as of Tuesday night regarding Ertz. Philadelphia’s asking price was reportedly as high as a third-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, a price that general manager Brandon Beane appears to have balked at paying.
Had the Bills acquired Ertz, they would either have absorbed his $8 million contract, or negotiated a new contract that would lower that number. In Hollister, the Bills have turned to a younger, less expensive option—albeit one without the track record of production that Ertz has in the league.
Ertz is coming off a 2020 season where he played in only 11 games. While he was the second-most frequently targeted player on Philadelphia’s roster, seeing 72 throws come his way, he only caught 36 passes for 335 yards and a lone touchdown. All of those numbers either tied or set career lows for a single season.