Arizona Cardinals v Philadelphia Eagles

PHILADELPHIA, PA - DECEMBER 20: Zach Ertz #86 of the Philadelphia Eagles carries the ball against the Arizona Cardinals in the second quarter at Lincoln Financial Field on December 20, 2015 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

(Elsa)

Over the past week, both the Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs made big financial commitments to their tight ends.

For the Chiefs, it was handing tight end Travis Kelce a five-year, $46 million deal a few days after he finished his first Pro-Bowl season.

For the Eagles, it was giving tight end Zach Ertz, coming off of the best season of his career, a 5-year, $42.5 million deal.

As with any contract in the NFL, one helped to set the other, as Ertz signed first, giving the Chiefs a benchmark in which to work with Kelce.

So which deal was better -- and which team showed more of a commitment to their player?

Here is a look at both contracts:

Kelce:

Years: 5

Total money: $46 million

Fully guaranteed (skill, cap, injury): $10.5 million

Guaranteed (skill and cap only): $20 million

Ertz:

Years: 5

Total money: $42.5 million

Fully guaranteed (skill, cap, injury): $13.1 million

Guaranteed (skill and cap only): $21 million

On the surface, the two deals are very similar, but Ertz received more guaranteed money than Kelce, and in the NFL, the guaranteed money is all you know you are going to get. Also, a look at both contract shows that a large portion of Kelce's money comes from 46-man per game roster bonuses, where he has to be active, and from workout bonuses.

An even closer look shows that the Eagles were more comfortable making a larger commitment to Ertz being a key member of their team.

The guaranteed money on Ertz's deal comes in three waves -- his signing bonus, his 2016 fully guaranteed salary and a key date during the 2017 offseason.

The Eagles and Ertz agreed that on the third day of the new League year in 2017, next March, roughly $5.8 million of his 2018 salary becomes fully guaranteed. Ertz's 2017 salary is already fully guaranteed for $4 million. The Eagles will have to decide on Ertz's status for the 2018 season before he even takes a snap in 2017.

For the Eagles, the decision is an easy one -- they will have Ertz play out this season, and assuming nothing catastrophic happens, they will commit to him through 2018. Even if Ertz does have a terrible season next year, the Eagles already have $4 million in 2017 fully guaranteed to him, another reason they won't cut him. Since Ertz should play a large role in the Eagles' offense this year, and he has only missed one game in three seasons due to injury, they almost certainly will not cut him next offseason. So from a practical matter, Ertz actually has $19M in fully guaranteed money at signing.

Add everything up, and the Eagles have basically made a three-year commitment to Ertz that will pay him roughly $21 million in that period.

The Chiefs, however, didn't show Kelce that same kind of security.

Of Kelce's money, only his 2016 money is fully guaranteed at signing, while the rest is in injury only guarantees in 2017 and 2018. If Kelce were to play poorly this season, or have some kind of off-the-field incident occur, the Chiefs could release him next offseason and not owe him a single penny. That is an issue for Kelce, as he has already missed an entire season due to injury just three years into his career. $4.6M of Kelce's total compensation is paid in the form of per game roster bonuses, meaning that he loses money every time he doesn't dress for a game. Kelce actually has lower base salaries from 2016 through 2019 than Ertz, and the same base salaries as Ertz in 2020 and 2021. If Kelce doesn't miss games with injuries, and continues to play at a high level, he will earn more money than Ertz over the course of the deal. If he doesn't, Ertz will most likely make more money on his deal by the time we reach 2021.

The Chiefs protected themselves against Kelce regressing, while the Eagles showed more faith in Ertz that he will be able to contribute for the next three seasons.

The message the Eagles and Howie Roseman wanted to send was clear.

When it comes to Ertz, even if he received less total money in his deal on paper, the team is making a commitment to him in the long term.

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Eliot Shorr-Parks may be reached at eshorrpa@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @EliotShorrParks. Find NJ.com Sports on Facebook.