The Green Bay Packers need help at the tight end, and it just so happens that a very notable name is going to be ready to sign in the next couple of weeks.
Veteran free agent Zach Ertz, who most recently played with the Washington Commanders, has been working his way back from a brutal ACL injury last December and recently featured in a video catching passes and working out with his old pal Andrew Luck. Ertz is fully cleared for football activities, and at the age of 35 (going on 36 in November), he wants to play another season.
It's the perfect opportunity for the Packers to simultaneously address a position group that has extremely questionable depth and finally make a move that has been speculated about for years.
Tucker Kraft is returning from a torn ACL, but the Packers have lost Luke Musgrave to a neck injury and had to waive Luke Lachey and RJ Maryland with injury designations. Ertz is available at the perfect time.
Green Bay Packers should be at the front of the line to sign TE Zach Ertz
Even though Ertz is coming off an injury, he still looks to be moving really well, and he's still been contributing at a high level over the past couple of seasons.
Since joining the Commanders, Ertz has caught 116 passes and 11 total touchdowns, including a 10-catch, 106-yard performance on Monday Night Football against the Denver Broncos last season. Ertz also posted 104 yards in the ugly NFC Championship Game loss against the Philadelphia Eagles the season prior, proving he's still very capable of a high volume of targets at this stage of his career.
And for the Packers, he could be the ideal insurance policy.
Although it's not ideal to have multiple tight ends coming off of/struggling with injuries, the Packers probably couldn't ask for a better all-around player to be sitting in free agency with the season on the doorstep.
Kraft is maybe the best all-around tight end in the NFL when healthy, but he's also coming off an injury last season. Getting someone like Ertz in the building allows the Packers to keep easing Kraft along as they see fit, giving Ertz a bit of the target share to take pressure off.
It's impossible to argue against the idea of another reliable weapon for Jordan Love at this stage of his career. Even though the Packers have a nice succession plan at the receiver position, Love is also going to be playing without a couple of his favorite targets over the past few seasons, with Romeo Doubs off to the New England Patriots and Dontayvion Wicks off to the Eagles.
Ertz can come in and provide a nice veteran presence and someone who has played in a ton of big games over the course of his career. The Packers also used the fifth-highest rate of 12 personnel (one RB, two TEs) in the NFL last season. If you want defenses to actually believe you might throw the ball from 12 personnel looks, you have to have the right personnel on the field.
Using 12 personnel as often as Matt LaFleur wants doesn't depend on the addition of Ertz, by any means, but the Packers are in a title-contending window. This is a player who can help make that vision a reality.
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