Iggloo
Fly, Eagles Fly
I will say that I was surprised by how many teammates publicly dissed him. He clearly was not popular.
Mathis may be the biggest ass in the world, but how does this move help the Eagles? Mathis is still a top notch proven vet who was under contract. Let him bitch and moan all he wants ... he had zero leverage and would have been right there when the time came where his pay would have started to be docked. We just created a big hole where we didn't have much proven depth to begin with nor invest a high pick in. Weather he makes 1 dollar or 7 million as a free agent now is irrelevant to me.
Eagles will be just fine. Smart move by Chip.
I fundamentally believe that Chip Kelly is a selfish guy when it comes to wins and losses. He is not going to make a move that he believes will lose him games.
Guards are routinely developed out of street free agents and un drafted players. It's why offensive line coaches are among the best paid. I fully expect that Kelly believes that the guys replacing Herremans and Mathis will do just fine.
Kelly is always thinking ahead. More than anything else, this is about next week. Mathis shows up, and Kelly was going to put him with the second or third team. He believes the guys in camp had earned the right to play. Now how is Mathis going to react to that? More moping? Walk out of camp? How are other players on the team going to react to that? Now all the players find themselves taking sides, and Mathis is there to gather support for his position. How are players around the league going to react? Image is important when it comes to recruiting future players. Better to cut your losses and treat Mathis like the man he is than publicly humiliate him.
Alternative end game here....Suppose Mathis goes out now and tests the waters and doesn't like what he is offered. Kelly stays in contact and keeps his current contract on the table. Mathis may come back, happy to play under his current deal, and satisfied that the team is treating him fairly. A happy Mathis may be the goal here. Frankly I don't see it. Some team is going to give him a deal that at least looks better than his current...allowing him to save face.
Guards are a fungible asset in the nfl. The Eagles did fine without him last year and will this year as well.
This is a culture move. When you make north of $5m you are expected to be a role model and a leader. Players that don't participate in the off season program will never see big contracts under Chip.
They are being nice to him by cutting him now. Gives him a chance at another job and does improve the Eagles image over the option of dragging this out.
Culture. I'm certain that Chip will make sure we have a good OL, with either from what he has or go out and get another G.
Mathis may be the biggest ass in the world, but how does this move help the Eagles? Mathis is still a top notch proven vet who was under contract. Let him bitch and moan all he wants ... he had zero leverage and would have been right there when the time came where his pay would have started to be docked. We just created a big hole where we didn't have much proven depth to begin with nor invest a high pick in. Weather he makes 1 dollar or 7 million as a free agent now is irrelevant to me.
I think Mathis has made it clear that he was going to be a distraction and probably during the season. His wanting more money is not something new and to be honest I think playing next to Peters had something to do with it. Mathis was with three teams before the Eagles signed him and it was not like he was one of the top guards then. He signs here and gets to play next to arguably the best LT in the NFL and then becomes a stud. Coincidence? I don't think so.