With his future murky and the days and weeks passing by without any progress, Dallas Goedert definitely had his down days. His bad days.
“There were definitely days that were filled with emotion,” he said Wednesday. “Just kind of sat on the couch and stared at the TV blankly like, ‘What's going to happen?’”
When the 2024 season ended, it sure seemed like Goedert’s Eagles career was over. The Eagles didn’t want him on the books at over $15 million for 2025 and Goedert didn’t want a contract with no guaranteed money.
Earlier this month, the two sides finally found some common ground, and Goedert agreed to a reworked deal worth $10 million guaranteed with the chance to earn another $1 million in incentives.
On Wednesday, for the first time, Goedert talked about the ups and downs of the past couple months and not knowing where he'd be continuing his career.
“There were a lot of emotions that went on through the offseason,” he said. “Not sure if you're going to be here, not sure if you're not. There were the sad emotions of leaving. There was the excitement of a change, seeing something different. And it just kind of went back and forth and I just kind of balanced those.
“I've been (through) seven offseasons, and this is the first time I had to deal with it, so I'm pretty lucky. But it was an interesting feeling for sure.”
It was a tricky negotiation because as productive as Goedert has been when he’s been healthy – his 8.7 yards per target is 2nd-highest among tight ends since 2019 (minimum 200 targets), behind only George Kittle, and his 49 yards per game is 7th-highest – Goedert turned 30 in January and has missed 21 games since 2020, including seven last year.
The contract Goedert signed in 2021 was worth $14.3 million per year, and he said that was the benchmark for what he wanted on a restructure. He didn’t quite match that $14.3 million, but he’s still the 13th-highest-paid tight end in the NFL in 2025 based on annual average.
“I've been very blessed to sign a good contract here (in 2021),” he said. “I wouldn't want to play for less, you know what I mean? I feel like I know my value. I feel like the Eagles know my value. And just finding something that I was OK with, a number that I felt excited about, that my time was worth it. There's a threshold that I felt like I deserved. And we were able to get there.
“It starts with Howie and my agent. I let them talk about it, different things that went on, possibilities of trades, possibility of cuts, things like that. I kind of told my agent what I thought would be best for me, certain numbers that I wanted to have, things like that. And I hired my agent for a reason. I trusted his opinion on stuff, but I kind of told him what I thought I wanted. And he worked that out and got it done.”
Goedert, the Eagles’ 2nd-round pick in 2018, has 349 catches for 4,085 yards and 24 touchdowns in seven years here. He’s 10th in franchise history in catches, 13thin yards and 19th in touchdowns.
He's also one of the most prolific tight ends in NFL postseason history. His 52 catches are 8th-most in playoff history among tight ends, his 562 yards are 11th-most and his four TDs are tied for 10th-most.
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What happens next? Goedert is essentially betting on himself. If he can stay healthy – or even relatively healthy – and have a typical Goedert season with 50 to 60 catches and 700 yards or so, he’ll be a valuable commodity on the open market next spring. If the Eagles don’t re-sign him again.
“I'm really excited about this year,” he said. “Obviously, I'd love to play my entire career in Philadelphia, but I'm not too worried about (the future). I'm excited to see what happens this year. Excited to put up a really good year, have a successful year with an incredible team and let my agent handle his job and talks after the season. …
“I'm super stoked to be back here. Got a lot of love for a lot of people in this building. Got a lot of love for Philadelphia. So super glad to be back. And we’ve got high expectations and I want to help us get back to where we were last year.”