‘Fourth Option’ for Eagles Lands Among NFL’s List of Elite Tight Ends

If there’s anything that speaks to the firepower the Philadelphia Eagles currently have on offense, this might be it.

Veteran tight end Dallas Goedert, who the Eagles tried to trade this offseason and eventually brought back after he took a pay cut, is still among the Top 10 players at his position in ESPN’s annual preseason position rankings.

Goedert came in at No. 9, which is down 2 spots from 2024 but still carries a tremendous amount of value to the Eagles and their offensive plans as they try to win a second consecutive Super Bowl.

As anyone who has watched the Eagles play in the last year knows, Goedert is hardly the Eagles’ first option on offense. Or the second. Or the third.

“Goedert occupies a tricky space on the list because he’s a longtime Top 10 resident but is, quite clearly, the fourth option in the Eagles’ offense behind Saquon Barkley, A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith,” ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler wrote on July 11. “Philadelphia explored a potential trade for Goedert this offseason only to revise his contract to one year and $10 million.”

Goedert Took Massive Pay Cut To Come Back

Goedert and the Eagles agreed to a drastically reduced salary on May 7 that drops his salary from between an estimated $14 million to $15.5 million in cash to $10 million, with the opportunity to earn another $1 million in bonuses.

“Dallas Goedert was due $14M in cash from the Eagles prior to the renegotiated deal,” ESPN’s Field Yates wrote on his official X account. “His new deal is for $10M cash, with the chance to earn $1M more via incentives.”

The longtime Philly staple has been the subject of rampant trade rumors since the Eagles defeated the Kansas City Chiefs in Super LIX on February 9.

“The #Eagles and TE Dallas Goedert have agreed to a reworked deal for this season, as @Jeff_McLane stated,” NFL Network’s Mike Garofolo wrote on his official X account. “The team had trade offers for Goedert during the draft. He was in the loop. Decided to remain with the team and selflessly restructured to try running it back.”

The road to Goedert’s return seemed to get a lot more clear after the Eagles declined to use any of their 10 picks in the 2025 NFL draft on a tight end.

Eagles Refused To Show Hand In Goedert Talks

The Eagles handled Goedert’s contract renegotiation and trade talks in the way most NFL players probably wish they would handle them — they didn’t say hardly anything at all. In fact, they were purposely vague.

“Right now he’s on our football team,” Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni told The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane at the NFL owners meetings in April. “And obviously, Dallas Goedert has meant a lot to us. We’ll see how that plays out. He’s a heck of a football player, heck of a leader. Want to be able to have back as many guys as you possibly can, but that’s not the reality of the NFL. We’ll see what happens and how that happens, but of course you want everyone back.”