By Paul Bowman, Sports Talk Philly Editor 
The Eagles have had a pretty great free agency and while some fans may still be upset that the Eagles didn’t overpay in a weak free agent market for receivers, the team is greatly improved everywhere on defense and hasn’t lost too much other than offensive line depth on the other side of the ball.
The Eagles may only be looking for bargain deals at this point and they had one in-house to shore up.
The NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reports that the Eagles have exercised tight end Zach Ertz’s 2021 option.
The #Eagles exercised TE Zach Ertz's 2021 option yesterday, per source. Strictly procedural. He's on the books for $8 million this season and $8.25M next season, with talks on an extension likely to pick up in the coming months.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) March 27, 2020
His cap hit may seem like a lot, but Austin Hooper just got a deal worth $11 million per season that will see his cap hit rise to over $13 million in a few years. There aren’t many people that would argue that Hooper is better than Ertz.
A contract extension looms over the Eagles with Ertz as the tight end reportedly turned down an extension last season. He will get more than Hooper, but the Birds will likely want an extension done before Travis Kelce and George Kittle sign new deals of their own and further raise the bar.
In seven seasons with the team, Ertz has missed just six regular season games. He has been Carson Wentz’s top target, accumulating 5,743 yards and 35 touchdowns as well as 360 yards and two touchdowns in the postseason.
The Eagles have both Ertz and Dallas Goedert under contract for the next two seasons to man the tight end position.
