PHILADELPHIA — Dallas Goedert is still in his 20s, but in a lot of ways he has become an elder in the NFL. The 2024 season will be his seventh with the Philadelphia Eagles, who selected him in the second round in the 2018 draft.

Goedert, 29, spent his first few seasons in Philadelphia as the heir apparent to Zach Ertz, who Goedert leaned on as a young NFL tight end. These days, Goedert is the one answering questions from younger players. At last week’s Tight End University — the tight end camp started in 2021 by George Kittle, Travis Kelce, and Greg Olsen in Nashville, Tenn. — Goedert was leaning on some of the game’s greats to try to better himself, but he also played the role of NFL veteran trying to teach the younger group what he has learned during his six years in the league.

“It’s just interesting the young kids come to me and ask me questions,” Goedert said. “What do you see? Why do you do it like that? I’m processing it more, trying to have a good explanation for why I do it.”

Goedert taught the younger tight ends about hand placement while blocking, about running routes a certain way against certain coverages, and more.

There was a little bit of that going on Saturday, though not quite as intense. Goedert this weekend is hosting a two-day camp for boys and girls between first and eighth grades at Drexel Hill Middle School. Goedert and the campers were out early Saturday morning ahead of the worst of the hot summer sun. Goedert signed autographs, slapped hands, and threw some balls to the kids during drills.

“I wanted to give back to the community that gives me so much,” Goedert said.

After this weekend it’s back to his native South Dakota for a bit before it’s time to return for training camp. The Eagles report to the NovaCare Complex on July 23, and for Goedert, the 2024 season is an interesting one for both him and the Eagles.

Goedert missed five games in 2022 due to a shoulder injury and three games last season after suffering a fractured forearm. In 14 games in 2023, Goedert posted his lowest per-game average in receiving yards since Ertz left the Eagles (42.1 yards per game) and scored just three touchdowns. Full seasons are rare in the NFL, but Goedert hasn’t played one since his 2018 rookie season.

“A lot of my injuries, I’ve been blessed enough, they’ve been in the middle of the season but they’ve only been four or five weeks,” Goedert said. “For me it’s just knowing that I have to do whatever I can do to give back out on the field to help the team because over the last few years we’ve had such good teams with high potentials, high capabilities, I just want to be out there when we achieve all of those for sure.”

The future, however, is a bit unclear as it pertains to Goedert being with the Eagles. At 29, Goedert is older than Ertz was (28) when the Eagles drafted his successor. And while the Eagles, perhaps a bit surprisingly, didn’t draft a tight end this year, Goedert does not have any guaranteed money in 2025, the last year of the four-year, $57 million extension he signed in 2021. Theoretically, it would be easy for the Eagles to move on from Goedert after this season.

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