Zach Ertz cleared to play after ACL tear, eyes 14th season

Eight months after tearing his ACL in December, Zach Ertz is back on a football field and it's not just a jog through a rehab facility. Adam Schefter reported the 3-time Pro Bowl tight end has been fully cleared for football activities and wants to play in 2026, with Ertz expected to be ready to sign a deal by mid-August.

The clearance came with a very specific visual: Ertz getting targets from Andrew Luck, his old Stanford quarterback, at their alma mater. It's the kind of low-key throwback session that means nothing on a stat sheet but everything for a guy trying to prove his knee is trustworthy again before teams commit real money. Schefter's report pointed to a 10-catch, 106-yard game against Denver as the last time we saw Ertz fully healthy, part of a stretch where he racked up 116 catches for 1,158 yards and 11 touchdowns across his last two full seasons.

Ertz is a free agent for the first time in years, and the market picture is a little different than it was before the injury. He's a 35-year-old coming off a torn ACL, aiming for a 14th NFL season, which is no small ask at the position. Still, his resume speaks for itself: 825 career catches ranks 5th all-time among tight ends, his 8,592 receiving yards sit 8th, and his 57 touchdowns are 10th. That's Hall of Fame conversation territory, not journeyman-looking-for-a-camp-invite territory.

Last season with Washington, Ertz still produced before the injury ended his year, hauling in 50 catches for 504 yards and 4 touchdowns across 13 games — top-3 on the Commanders in every receiving category despite missing 4 contests. He made $6.25 million on that deal, but with the knee in the equation, he's likely signing for less this time around. Washington has already moved on at the position, handing former Titan Chig Okonkwo a 3-year, $27.5 million deal to be the lead tight end, so a return there isn't the obvious play.

That leaves the door open for a homecoming. Ertz reportedly expressed interest in getting back to Philadelphia back in April, the place where he spent 2013-2020, made all 3 of his Pro Bowls, and caught the touchdown that won Super Bowl LII. Whether the Eagles actually want him back remains to be seen, but if the knee checks out the way this week's session suggests, somebody is going to bet on a proven veteran with a healthy leg and something left to prove.