Zach Ertz hasn’t spoken to reporters this entire summer.

There were the trade rumors, and the emotional press conference he did last season ahead of what looked like a Philly departure, but he’s on the Birds roster this season and hitting the cap around 12 million dollars.

Today the Birds PR staff had him on a Zoom call for the first time in a long time:

Ertz reiterated that he wants to retire in Philadelphia.

And listen, if they tried to trade him and nothing materialized, you can do worse than having your young quarterback throw the ball to a Super Bowl champion and three-time Pro Bowler. You can play 12 personnel with Ertz and Dallas Goedert both on the field. And then you evaluate his season and see how he does and decide if you want to bring him back on less money, or move on for good.

Nice to see a positive resolution to a tricky situation. It’s like the opposite of what’s going on with Ben Simmons right now.