Zach Ertz Contract Terms
The Washington Commanders are re-signing tight end Zach Ertz to a one-year, $6.25 million deal that can be worth up to $9 million with incentives, NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported on Saturday.
Fantasy Football Impact
Ertz returns for a second season with the Commanders as Washington looks to build off its trip to the NFC championship game this past season.
As Washington Post staffer Sam Fortier noted, the move reunites quarterback Jayden Daniels with one of his most trusted targets.
Ertz, 34, revived his career with Washington last season while working with Daniels and offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, a close friend with whom he said he wants to spend the rest of his career.
"It was really an opportunity for me to just fall back in love with the game again and really just enjoy the process again and just be around people that know how to use me and allow me to be at my best," Ertz said in January. "It's just been so much fun. It's exceeded all my expectations."
Ertz exceeded all our expectations, emerging as a key contributor in Washington's passing game.
He finished the regular season with 66 catches for 654 yards and seven touchdowns. Ertz added three catches for 18 yards and a touchdown in the postseason. He finished second on the Commanders in catches, targets, yards, and touchdowns during the regular season, only behind Terry McLaurin, and provided a veteran presence for Daniels and the offense.
Head coach Dan Quinn said he initially expected Ertz to contribute in the red zone, on third down, and in two-minute situations but didn't know how much else.
"He surpassed those and kept going onto it," Quinn said. "He wasn't going to miss this [opportunity]."
According to Fortier, Ertz's age showed after the catch, but he was still a dangerous route runner, especially on option routes in the red zone. He created separation and presented a reliable target for his rookie quarterback while playing in all 17 regular season games.
Ertz previously spent the majority of his career with the Philadelphia Eagles, playing eight and a half seasons for the Eagles before joining the Arizona Cardinals for two and a half seasons more from 2021-23. The 34-year-old will spend Year 13 of his career in Washington, D.C.
He needs 34 receptions to pass Shannon Sharpe and move into fifth among tight ends on the all-time receptions list.
It's fair to wonder if Ertz's fantasy value will rise after this development.
As things stand now, the Footballguys 2025 Draft Projections have him at TE33. His early Average Draft Position (ADP) on Underdog is TE24.
But Ertz finished the 2024 season as TE11 in PPR formats. With the re-signing, his ADP may move closer to last year's final spot. In the meantime, those taking part in early best-ball drafts might find some value in landing Ertz at his current price.
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The Fantasy Football Fallout
The Commanders have already looked to bolster their offense by acquiring wide receiver Deebo Samuel Sr. in a trade with the San Francisco 49ers. With Samuel lining up opposite Terry McLaurin, who led the team with 82 catches (on 117 targets), 1,096 yards, and 13 touchdowns, and with Ertz back in the mix, the Commanders head into 2025 with a stronger receiving corps than they fielded last season.
That should only help Daniels, the runaway Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2024. He threw for 3,568 yards and 25 touchdowns. Washington's offense ranked fifth in scoring and seventh in yards last season -- the first time it has finished top 10 in both categories since 2012 -- leading the team to the NFC Championship Game.
Again, Ertz, with his 91 targets, served as the de facto WR2 with all the team's wideouts not named McLaurin falling short of 65 targets. The next three in the rotation, Noah Brown, Olamide Zaccheaus, and Dyami Brown, are potential free agents.
Adding Samuel and retaining Ertz certainly won't diminish Daniels' QB3 ADP on Underdog or his Footballguys QB1 projection.
Coming off the most productive fantasy season of his career, McLaurin finished as WR5 last season. But his initial Footballguys 2025 Projection (WR17) has him catching four fewer touchdowns (9) than last year.
While the projection isn't far off his WR14 ADP at Underdog, the early third-round price seems like a value at this point.
Update: In addition to Ertz and second-year player Ben Sinnott, John Bates, an elite blocker and key to the team's two-tight-end sets, will also return after re-signing with the team as well.
Stock Watch
Risers
Fallers
Overview
The Washington Commanders are bringing Zach Ertz back for another year. The veteran tight end signed a 1-year deal last offseason and had his best campaign in years. He was an excellent outlet for rookie QB Jayden Daniels, and he will continue to catch passes from him for another year.
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