By Paul Bowman, Sports Talk Philly Editor 
The Eagles secured yet another loss on prime time this week and fell to 2-4 on the season. This put them in a situation that would seem to force their focus to shift heavily to the future of the franchise.
On Thursday, news broke that teams were calling on Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert looking to see if they might be available in trades.
Ertz found himself on the top of a list of players that the team was looking to move in return for draft compensation and became the first major trade during the 2021 season.
For Ertz, a huge deal would seem likely, but a poor 2020 season and an incompetent head coach that fails to utilize his two elite tight ends may have dropped Ertz’s value in the trade, but the Eagles got a young guy they were looking for by sending him to the Cardinals.
Trade: The Eagles have acquired CB Tay Gowan and a 2022 fifth-round pick from Arizona in exchange for TE Zach Ertz. pic.twitter.com/bKIhzqbdKg
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) October 15, 2021
The return is a fifth-round pick next season and rookie CB Tay Gowan.
Though Ertz may have returned a fourth or even a third-round pick in the compensatory formula, it is important to remember that the Eagles figure to have quite a bit of cap space starting next year, so the players they sign might have negated any compensatory pick they would have otherwise gotten.
Ertz was originally selected in the second round of the 2013 draft by the Eagles and was in his ninth season with the team. He had made three Pro Bowls, three Top 100 lists and, of course, caught a critical touchdown pass in Super Bowl LII to secure the team’s first Super Bowl win.
The player coming to the Eagles in the trade, Gowan, was actually one of the top picks among Eagles fans in the draft, but wound up being selected just one pick before the final Eagles selection in the sixth round. Many believe his draft stock took a major hit because he was COVID opt out and that resulted in him really only having one season of college play under his belt.
Gowan has not seen the field in 2021 which contributes to his lack of experience, but he has all the physical tools needed to be a good corner in the league and that’s someone the Eagles could certainly take a chance on this season.
Especially with Sirianni’s offense, should you chose to call it that, the Eagles show no need for two tight ends and with Ertz and Goedert both being free agents, it makes sense to move on from one of them in return for something since they both aren’t getting the big deals in Philly. If you want to keep one over the other, sentimentality cannot factor in and Goedert is the younger option who figures to have more good years to contribute moving forward.
Though the move is disappointing from a fan and sentimental viewpoint, it isn’t a bad move for a team that appears to be going nowhere this season and would figure to lose him for nothing come free agency.
