Eagles realease Mathis

[Iggloo]

I will say that I was surprised by how many teammates publicly dissed him. He clearly was not popular.

 

[Rey]

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.

 

[old duke]

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.

 

[Wings]

Eagles will be just fine. Smart move by Chip.

 

[Iron Eagle]

It was pretty clear his days were numbered here.

I get that "they like who they have" but I'd prefer that Chip be patient and wait for prime opportunities to trade players. Deal from a position of strength and get something of value in return.

 

[DaEagles]

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 agree.

And just wait til he signs for much less and see how many peeps will say "see he wasn't worth nothing as he didn't get nothing". It's how it works on here. We now have 2 big holes at G and not just one.

 

[Rey]

Time will tell, but OL usually isn't like RB where you can just plug in next in line and see similar results.

 

[NDIrishGuy]

I'm not willing to claim the sky is falling just yet. Could Chip need an ego check? Absolutely. Could he be correct in trying to build a specific type of locker room/morale? Absolutely. Does anyone even possibly know the answer to that one? Doubtful - but someone might actually have vision of the future or be a time traveller, so cannot say definitely not. However, last I checked Jason Peters was an undrafted free agent coming out of college, so it isn't in the realm of impossibility to expect one of the undrafted guys to be able to step right in and play well. As for Herremans - he was REALLY bad last year. Gardner, Tobin, and Molk weren't good either, but they were better than Herremans, especially in run blocking - so I don't consider the loss of Heremans to be that big of a concern - Mathis was graded as the second best lineman on the Eagles, so that will be much tougher to replace.

 

[Uhsplit]

He wasn't a big cap hit if cut. $2M in dead $ I think.
If he was not a team player, vape him and that is what I think is going on here. If so, good move by the team.

 

[I miss Dawkins]

Eagles will be just fine. Smart move by Chip.

well, when you explain it like that, it kind of makes sense. You convinced me.

Unless someone else says...

Eagles are worse because of it. Dumb move by Chip.

Then I guess, that counters your point and says just as much.

How about some substance to backup the opinion?

 

[old duke]

Mathis became a cancer. All that Chip wants are team players - not selfees.

 

[deerpathdave]

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.

 

[Rey]

We trade for an immobile pocket passer and we turn around and cut one of the best pass protecting Guards in the league to replace him with an untested, unproven player. Sorry is I'm not doing jumping jacks. You have to find a way to fix things with Mathis ... I don't think Chip is interested in compromising with anyone. His way or the highway ... the proof will be in the pudding if his way will work. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

 

[skinzfan]

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.

Mathis isn't coming back regardless, he's wanted out for a couple years. He'll find a team that will offer him a little more money. This will be his last contract and he wants all he can get, it's business. This patch and play strategy on an OL doesn't work. When you saw the Eagles offer Chester (Redskin castoff) a two year contract a few weeks ago, which he didn't accept, you know there's slim pickings. He was awful last year. Kelly still thinks he's at Oregon. I wonder what Demarco Murray is thinking about now after playing behind the Cowboys OL last year to this. Would Kelly be invited back with an 8 win season in 2015?

 

[ctc]

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.

They did fine without him last year?

That's right, that's the period when the iggles running attack led the league and set the record for consecutive 100 yd games by a running back and for the least amount of sacks wasn't it.

 

[ctc]

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.

Run down to Home Depot and pick one up the next time they're on sale.

 

[Carnzo]

Popular or not, I don't see releasing him helping the team.

 

[PhillyGreen]

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.

 

[CSB]

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.

Kelce on the other side doesn't hurt either...

 

[Deano]

Mathis is going to end up with the Giants. Chip just solved their OL problems. Nice job.