Philadelphia Eagles Release Pro Bowl Guard Evan Mathis After Contractual Dispute
For two off-seasons, the Philadelphia Eagles and Pro Bowl guard Evan Mathis were in a contractual war. The standoff had no end in sight until Thursday when the team finally decided to let Mathis go. The 33-year-old guard wasn't happy with his five-year, $25 million contract he signed in 2012, so this wasn't surprising. Mathis skipped all the voluntary training sessions and he probably would've skipped the mandatory ones, too. If that were to have occurred, then he would've been fined.
Coach Chip Kelly said Mathis was on the trading block for two years and nobody made an offer.
"Evan's been available to trade for two years now and we've never had an offer for him," Kelly said during the draft. "That's through his agent and him. They've asked if he could renegotiate a contract and see what he could get and we've obliged him with that, but we've never had an offer."
In 2014, the Eagles gave Mathis and his agent, Drew Rosenhaus permission to find another team. Now that his wish to leave the team has been granted, he'll probably have a hard time finding a home. Around this time, teams already have their rosters set. Mathis will have to wait for a team to open up a roster spot due to injury.
In four seasons, Mathis lead all Eagles offensive players with 3,675 snaps. Other than this season where Mathis played four games, he started 15 games in the three seasons before it. On top of that, he went to the Pro Bowl in 2013 and 2014.
Do you think Evan Mathis will find a home before the beginning of the season or will the Pro Bowl guard be sitting out?