Pro Bowl offensive lineman Evan Mathis is again a no-show at an Eagles minicamp.
Comcast SportsNet’s Derrick Gunn tweeted Tuesday that Mathis, who skipped the team’s first series of summer practices, was again absent Tuesday morning for the start of this week’s OTAs.
The practices are optional, although participation is generally 100 percent.
Mathis has been seeking a new contract from the Eagles for a couple years now. He requested a trade, and the Eagles granted him permission to work out a deal with another team, but as head coach Chip Kelly pointed out during draft weekend, Mathis has found no takers.
“Evan has been available for trade for two years now and we have never had an offer for him,” Kelly said. “They’ve asked if he can renegotiate his contract and see what he can get (with another team). We’ve obliged with them but we’ve never had an offer.”
The only mandatory minicamp of the summer is scheduled for June 16 to 18. According to terms of the CBA, Mathis would be subject to a fine if he doesn’t report for that session.
Mathis signed his current five-year, $25.5 million contract in 2012. According to Spotrac.com, which tracks NFL salaries, Mathis’s $5.1 million average annual salary makes him the 10th-highest-paid guard in the NFL.
NFL
Mathis bounced around from the Panthers to the Dolphins to the Bengals before finally finding a home with the Eagles in 2011.
He made his first Pro Bowl and was a first-team All-Pro in 2013 and made another Pro Bowl last year, despite playing in just nine games.
Mathis turns 34 in November.
The Eagles this offseason released their other starting guard, Todd Herremans, who is now with the Colts.
Among the candidates to take first-team reps at left guard in place of the absent Mathis are Matt Tobin, Dennis Kelly and Josh Andrews.