Zach Ertz  played eight seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles after the 2020 season, but his contract was due to expire after 2021. He had received permission from the Eagles that offseason to seek a trade.

Buffalo was rumored to be interested that March. But no deal happened until mid-October, when Ertz was sent to the Cardinals for a fifth-round draft pick and cornerback Tay Gowan. But Ertz said a trade to the Bils was almost a done deal, Mark Gaughan of the Buffalo News reports.

“I was getting traded out of Philadelphia,” Ertz said Saturday after accepting the 20th annual Call to Courage Award. “There were a couple teams extremely interested, Buffalo being one of them. It was almost a done deal, but it just didn’t get over the finish line.” 

The Bills wound up signing low-profile free agent tight end Jacob Hollister a week into free agency in March 2021. He didn’t make the team. The Bills signed veteran tight end O.J. Howard in free agency in 2022 in a bid to bolster their use of two tight ends. Howard didn’t make the team, either.

The Bills drafted slot tight end Dalton Kincaid in the first round last week. 

Ertz wound up signing a three-year extension with Arizona in March 2022.

Don't forget to follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/theredzoneorg 
  
Like us on Facebook at http://facebook.com/Theredzone.org