It was clear Evan Mathis did not want to be an Eagle. And the Eagles obliged.
The Eagles on Thursday afternoon released their two-time Pro Bowl guard, who has been absent from all their spring voluntary minicamps and had been the object of increasing scorn among his coach and teammates (see story). The Eagles haven't officially announced the move, but Mathis tweeted a goodbye, and a source confirmed it to CSNPhilly.com's Geoff Mosher.
"Thanks for the memories Philly," Mathis tweeted.
Mathis, who was due to earn $5.5 million this year and $6 million next year, is now an unrestricted free agent, free to negotiate a deal with any NFL team. He has not attended offseason workouts so far but said he planned to participate in next week's mandatory OTAs.
"Yep. Flight was scheduled for Monday," he texted Mosher.
The Eagles are on the books for only $2 million in guaranteed money from his amortized signing bonus from 2012. By cutting him, they save $9.5 million over the next two seasons.
Mathis had been unhappy with his contract since soon after signing a five-year, $25.5 million deal in March of 2012. He received permission from the Eagles two years ago to seek a deal with another team and work out a trade, but as Chip Kelly famously pointed out after the draft, he found no takers.
NFL
“Evan has been available for trade for two years now and we have never had an offer for him,” Kelly snapped.
That was the first sign of serious hard feelings between the two sides, and relations between Mathis and the Eagles grew worse during minicamp, as teammates made it clear that if Mathis didn’t want to be here, they didn’t want him here.
“If you go against Chip … if you don’t buy in, we’ve seen what happens," tight end Zach Ertz said.
"Not to say that as a threat in any way, but we want guys that love the process each and every day, whether it's June 1 or January 1 or February 6, whatever day the Super Bowl is.
"We need guys that are going to come in each and every day and work and I think that’s what we’re building right now."
Jason Peters even went as far as saying he didn’t know if Mathis would get his left guard spot back if he did return to the team.
“We’ve got a group of guys out there that have worked, been here since April and right now Al Barbre is the starter,” Peters said. “I don’t know if Evan shows up ... he gets his spot back. I don’t know.”
Mathis, a journeyman who spent his first six years with three teams, revived his career with the Eagles in 2011, becoming a full-time starter for the first time since 2006 in Carolina.
He started 47 of 48 games from 2011 through 2013 and made his first Pro Bowl in 2013.
He made another Pro Bowl last year, despite playing in just nine games.
With Mathis out of minicamps, Barbre has been the starter at left guard. Barbre, 30, suffered a season-ending injury on opening day last year. He has just eight NFL starts since being drafted by the Packers in 2007.
With Todd Herremans released in March, the Eagles are now missing both starting guards dating back to the Andy Reid era.
Matt Tobin, Dennis Kelly and Andrew Gardner have gotten reps with the first offense at right guard during OTAs.
Mathis was reportedly upset that a small contract raise that he had turned down when Howie Roseman was the general manager was pulled off the table when Roseman lost his personnel authority and Kelly assumed general manager duties.
Like Ertz said, Kelly has made it clear that no matter how many Pro Bowls a player has made, if he doesn’t fit Kelly’s culture and put his ego aside in order to pursue team goals, he doesn’t want him around.
In DeSean Jackson, LeSean McCoy and Mathis, Kelly has now gotten rid of three players with a combined eight Pro Bowls to their name, all within months after they reached a Pro Bowl.
Mathis, who turns 34 in November, has played 114 games for the Panthers, Dolphins, Bengals and Eagles, starting 78.
He’s one of only three guards in franchise history to make multiple Pro Bowls. The others are Bucko Kilroy in the 1940s and 1950s, and Shawn Andrews.