Dallas Goedert talks potential contract extension, Zach Ertz, and more

Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert spoke to reporters on Wednesday during OTAs and talked about the potential of being TE1 without Zach Ertz, but also about the changes to personnel and the coaching staff. He also touched on why it’ll be fun to play with Jalen Hurts and how he trained differently this offseason.

The tight end is heading into Year 4 and he admitted the first three years flew by, but he’s hoping to get back into the playoffs this season. Goedert said that he has high expectations for himself, and he’s going to do whatever he can to help the team get more wins this season.

He also acknowledged that contract extension discussions are still ongoing, but he’s leaving the contract stuff to his agent and is just focused on getting one percent better every day. Goedert later said that the second contract is the ultimate goal, so the sooner they can get that sorted the better, and he’d love to be in Philly for the long term — but even if he doesn’t get an extension, it doesn’t change his approach.

Here’s what else he said:

On Zach Ertz and changes to the TE room

Goedert is now the most-tenured guy in the tight end room, but he said that he’s just attacking things the way he always has, and is just working and competing. He acknowledged that without Zach Ertz on the field and with a new position coach, things are obviously different, but Goedert thinks they’ve handled it well and are doing a great job.

Later on, Goedert noted that he has talked to Ertz a handful of times — including having lunch a few times — and the veteran is in a tough situation.

“I don’t know a ton about his relationship, whatever’s happened with the Eagles. That’s really none of my business to ever really know, but the conversations we have — we just, we’re friends. We’ve been here awhile, gotten to know each other. We’ll talk about anything and everything.”

As far as whether Ertz has mentioned the possibility of playing with the Eagles this year, Goedert admitted that he didn’t feel it was his place to even ask Ertz about that or what his plan is.

“Zach’s been an incredible mentor to me. The way he attacked every day, how much he knew about the playbook, how much he knew about opposing defenses. We’d leave the huddle as a rookie, and he’d tell me what I was doing, who I was going to block — and I’m like, we’re not even to the line of scrimmage yet. So, just the way he approached everything, the way he was able to dissect defenses, the way he was able to attack leverage. Learning from him was one of the biggest blessings of my career.”

On Tyree Jackson and Hakeem Butler converting to TE

“Both those two have been doing a great job, learning a lot. You can see their improvement each and every day, and you know, playing the amount of football that I have in the NFL, it’s been fun to kind of coach them a little bit, watch and see what they do, and try and make them a better player. Just like I had great veterans helping me do the same thing, I want to keep that going.”

Other notables

• As far as his injury issues last season, Goedert said that breaking his ankle in Week 3 was just bad luck, but as far as the soft tissue stuff, he trained in a new spot — Sanford POWER in Irvine, CA — and worked with some new people to hopefully be in a better position this year.
• The TE said that it’s been a lot of fun with the new coaching staff, the team is younger and the energy has been great. Goedert said that the coaches have done a “phenomenal job” implementing the new offense and he’s excited to get on the field and show what they can do.
• Goedert said that playing with Jalen Hurts is going to be a lot of fun, and in the pass game, the QB can do it all — make plays and extend plays. And in the run game, Hurts’ ability to move around will make Goedert’s job easier.