Zach Ertz was the Commanders’ leading receiver in Sunday’s NFC Championship Game loss, and he was second on the team to Terry McLaurin in targets, catches, yards, and receiving touchdowns overall this season.
But, when he walked off the field at Lincoln Financial Field Sunday, even to cheers from his former team’s fans, one had to wonder if that was his final trip back to the locker room as a Commander – and maybe the final one period.
Well, if he has his druthers, the latter is definitely not the case.
“I don’t know what the future holds. I still want to play football next year. I just want to make that clear that I’m not retiring,” Ertz told the media Monday as the Commanders had their exit day in Ashburn. “I had so much fun this year. I feel rejuvenated, I feel young, and this is the most amount of games I’ve played in a season at age 34 – and I felt like I played good football this year. For me, it’s just figuring out everything going forward.”
Ertz played just 17 of 34 games in Arizona the last two years due to torn knee ligaments in 2022 and then a quad strain in 2023, and he has a litany of lower-body injuries in his recent past – but, at age 34, he played in all 20 of the Commanders’ games this season, becoming both a fan favorite and a security blanket for Jayden Daniels, and he hopes the love is mutual.
“They know how I feel about this place, but it’s a two-way street; I can bang down the door saying I want to be here, but if they don’t want me here, it’s a moot point,” Ertz said. “At the end of the day, this next month for me is the time to take a step back, rest, and get my body back to where it needs to be. When I say I want to play football, it’s not just showing up in August and getting ready, it really is a year-round thing for me to get my body in shape and get ready for every season, and I have a rigorous process I go through every off-season.”
Ertz will go into his regular offseason routine of working with current Colorado Director of Football Sports Performance Shannon Turley, who was his strength coach at Stanford and is ‘the best one I’ve ever had’ in his words, to look at where he can improve both physically and mentally heading into 2025.
And then, come March, when free agency hits, he’s ready to answer anyone’s call.
“What I love about football is you’re never going to be perfect, it’s about figuring out how much better you can be every year, and I still feel like at this age, I can still get better,” Ertz said. “So I’m excited for this offseason, excited to get better, and looking forward to another great year.”