Dallas Goedert keeps taking paycuts to stay with the Eagles and he keeps making plays to help them win games.

Goedert, who’s playing on his second one-year prove-it deal after hitting free agency, had a huge opener Sunday to start his ninth season with the Eagles, catching four passes for 77 yards and two touchdowns, including a career-long 43-yard TD that gave the Eagles an eight-point lead with six minutes left. He became the first Eagles tight end ever to catch two touchdowns in a season opener.

The Eagles are lucky he keeps coming back because he’s still a top-10 tight end in the NFL.

“He’s never really been talked about enough,” Saquon Barkley said after the Eagles won their sixth straight opener, 24-22, over the Commanders at the Linc. “And then I come here and it’s always kind of been me, Smitty, A.J., Jalen, all that. Smitty, A.J., Jalen before I got here. But Dallas has always been making plays. There’s been times where unfortunately he has some bad luck with some injuries, but when he’s on the field, the things he can do with the ball in his hand, he’s a weapon. 

“Big game for him. Super proud of him. He’s one of my good buddies. Year nine, we came in (to the NFL) the same year (2018). Felt like we grew a lot closer since I’ve been here, so happy for him.”

Both of Goedert’s touchdowns came on third down. The 17-yarder in the second quarter was a 3rd-and-goal and the 43-yarder in the fourth quarter was a 3rd-and-6. He’s the first Eagle with multiple 3rd-down touchdowns of at least 15 yards in the same game since DeSean Jackson’s huge day against Washington in the 2019 opener, when he caught 51- and 53-yard TDs from Carson Wentz at the Linc.

The first touchdown, Hurts zipped a pass to Goedert in the end zone, threading the needle between safety Quan Martin and safety and former Eagle Jeremy Reaves.

“Incredible job by Jalen to put a ball in the high back of the end zone where only I could get it,” Goedert said.

The second was a great read by Hurts, spotting Goedert over the middle at the 40 and getting him the ball in position where he could get on his horse and elude defenders, then out-run them to the end zone.

“It felt like it was splitting the Red Sea,” he said.

Goedert’s 4,753 regular-season yards are 5th-most among tight ends since he entered the NFL in 2018, his 37 touchdowns are 4th-most and his 413 catches are 7th-most. If you include his postseason production, he’s fourth in yards, fourth in touchdowns and sixth in catches since 2018. Including postseason, he needs 31 catches to join Hall of Famer Harold Carmichael (618) and Zach Ertz (612) as the third Eagle with 500 catches.

“Dallas has been so consistent over my time here and even before that,” Nick Sirianni said Monday. “He just has a knack to make plays very solid in the run game. 

“I think Dallas has had different versions of his game shine at different times. What I mean by that is, yesterday you got to see him catch the ball over the middle in space and get to the right spot, be a big target and make plays and finish. You’ve also seen through Dallas’ career how much of a dangerous runner he is when the ball is in his hands and how hard he is to bring down. Did that a little bit yesterday. 

“You think about that in the Giants and the ‘22 playoffs on the sideline, the playoffs in the ‘24 season against the Packers where he finished on the sideline. And then there’s elements of Dallas when he has to win 1-on-1 matchups, that he’s been able to do on crossing routes and sail routes and different things like that. Even lining him up on the outside on occasion and throwing him some outside receiver routes. 

“Obviously, he’s been a threat in the red zone every year, particularly last year. And so that just speaks to a lot of different versions of his game that we’ve been able to see here. 

“I don’t think there’s a secret. I think he works his butt off, which you obviously (have to be) highly talented to be able to have that ability that when you do work your butt off you take it to another level.

“He’s a great teammate, he’s consistent. Guys love being around him. And yeah, so it was good to see him have a good game yesterday. I was pumped for him. Obviously, all the things he did to help our football team win last night.”