The Arizona Cardinals are responding to Maxx Williams’ serious injury by threading a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles. Zach Ertz will provide an upgrade in the passing game, but also brings some question marks. Still, the trade makes sense for all parties.

Philadelphia/Munich – And so he sat there. Zach Ertz had just wiped the tears from his face, his voice brittle.

Again and again the tight end had to take a deep breath, admitting: “This is very emotional for me right now.”

Only a few minutes after the news of the trade to the Arizona Cardinals made the rounds, the tight end himself took the floor. One last time as a Philadelphia Eagles player.

Ertz says goodbye with a touchdown

He cried for about 30 minutes in the aftermath of the 22-28 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he said. Hardly anyone knew. Ertz didn’t even talk to his family: “I just wanted to focus on the game. That’s just the way I am. All that mattered to me was that we won the game.”

While he didn’t succeed, a touchdown early in the game gave the three-time Pro Bowler a fitting send-off in his ninth NFL season.

Eagles general manager Howie Roseman had told the 30-year-old earlier in the week that he was willing to accept a trade offer from the Cardinals. “That’s business,” Ertz acknowledges, only to reiterate, “It wasn’t like I necessarily wanted this trade. “

Already in the offseason, Philadelphia was looking for a suitable counterpart. With cornerback Tay Gowan and a fifth-round pick in the upcoming NFL Draft, the Arizona Cardinals now delivered.

New opportunity in Arizona

No question, things could have gone worse from Zach Ertz’s perspective. In 2018, he won the Super Bowl with the Eagles, was one of the absolute top stars.

Since then, however, Ertz has become increasingly prone to injury, missed more and more games and most recently has not been able to build on the good performances from previous years. In addition, his contract expired after the current season. The Eagles already have a successor in Dallas Goedert.

So the trade to the Cardinals makes sense from many perspectives: Philadelphia still gets value, Ertz gets a new sporting opportunity and Arizona can react as quickly as possible to the serious injury to tight end Maxx Williams.

The 27-year-old suffered a serious knee injury in the game against the San Francisco 49ers and will miss the rest of the season. A replacement was needed. And quickly.

Trade symbolises Cardinals’ aspirations

After all, the expectations are high, the franchise is on a Super Bowl run and is considered one of the top favourites for the Lombardi Trophy after a perfect start to the season.

Ertz will now provide an upgrade in the passing game, but it is also a fact that the 30-year-old will not be able to replace the Williams role as a blocker.

Ertz himself is looking forward to the new task despite all the tears, hoping “to help Arizona on all levels.”

First, though, he’ll have to be patient. Because he was already on the turf in the Thursday Night Game, he cannot yet play in the Cardinals’ top game against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.