Eagles realease Mathis

[old duke]

WTF does Riley Cooper have to do with this?.....nothing. And for the record the Riley Cooper incident happened during Reid's tenure here and from what I can tell it has been handled. What has Riley Cooper done since then to warrants him being kicked off the team?

You have not listed one shred of evidence that supports your claim that doing what Chip says comes before talent. From what I can tell Chip has added talent and those that have not come on board are no longer here. He is not the first coach to follow that mantra and will not be the last either.

Sorry PG, but the Cooper incident was under Chip's watch - his 1st season. Guys should stop pointing to Cooper, since Mike Vick stood up for Riley. I wouldn't have, and he should've been cut, IMO, but most of the team forgave him. Everybody does stupid things at times, however, I can't wait until he is replaced.

 

[deerpathdave]

Well that's wonderful that you've convinced yourself of this.

Kelly is not an idiot. If he thought cutting Evan Mathis would cost this team one win, he would not do it. I suspect he consulted with Stoutland and either indirectly or directly with Peters and Kelce as well. They probably all said to a man they were comfortable with Barbre in that spot and felt the young guys had developed and deserved the chance to compete to play.

 

[deerpathdave]

Sorry PG, but the Cooper incident was under Chip's watch - his 1st season. Guys should stop pointing to Cooper, since Mike Vick stood up for Riley. I wouldn't have, and he should've been cut, IMO, but most of the team forgave him. Everybody does stupid things at times, however, I can't wait until he is replaced.

Your dead on. The Cooper thing was one moment of stupidity and really harmless overall. He paid the price for it in counseling and image and by all accounts has been a model teammate since. The only issue with Cooper is last year he was a below average player.

 

[PhillyGreen]

Sorry PG, but the Cooper incident was under Chip's watch - his 1st season. Guys should stop pointing to Cooper, since Mike Vick stood up for Riley. I wouldn't have, and he should've been cut, IMO, but most of the team forgave him. Everybody does stupid things at times, however, I can't wait until he is replaced.

I actually thought it was on Reid's last year. I stand corrected.

I can agree that he should have been cut but I also can see the other side that thought he should be given a second chance. It turned out that the second chance was a good choice. Look good people do stupid things and I am sure that Riley Cooper learned from this. I can assure you that people are looking for him to screw up.

 

[L.Freamon]

WTF does Riley Cooper have to do with this?.....nothing. And for the record the Riley Cooper incident happened during Reid's tenure here and from what I can tell it has been handled. What has Riley Cooper done since then to warrants him being kicked off the team?

You "sound" angry PG.
I should not have to tell you, Riley Cooper stinks. He does not have the talent to be a WR on this team. His contract extension got us 50 catches 500 yds and 3 TDs, a noticeable decline from his previous year--which only stands out because he sucked so bad before THAT year. Most of the INT's Philly QBs have thrown were being directed at Cooper. And yet he is on this team when other more talent players have been shown the door.

 

[L.Freamon]

Sorry PG, but the Cooper incident was under Chip's watch - his 1st season. Guys should stop pointing to Cooper, since Mike Vick stood up for Riley. I wouldn't have, and he should've been cut, IMO, but most of the team forgave him. Everybody does stupid things at times, however, I can't wait until he is replaced.

My issue with Cooper has faaaaaaar more to do with his lack of talent and production than his stupid drunken outburst.

 

[L.Freamon]

NFLPA reportedly exploring release of Evan Mathis | ProFootballTalk

Seems the NFLPA thinks Evan's release has more to do with skipping OTAs than anything else...

"Via Tim McManus of PhillyMag.com, the NFLPA is reviewing the decision to cut Mathis, a two-time Pro Bowl guard. Per McManus, the union is simply gathering information at this point.

It’s possible that the NFLPA suspects that the decision to cut Mathis constitutes retaliation for his decision to skip offseason workouts. "

 

[deerpathdave]

You "sound" angry PG.
I should not have to tell you, Riley Cooper stinks. He does not have the talent to be a WR on this team. His contract extension got us 50 catches 500 yds and 3 TDs, a noticeable decline from his previous year--which only stands out because he sucked so bad before THAT year. Most of the INT's Philly QBs have thrown were being directed at Cooper. And yet he is on this team when other more talent players have been shown the door.

There really is no sense in cutting Cooper at this point. In all probability he is one of the top 6 receivers on the team and that contract he signed essentially guaranteed his salary for this year. Plus he is a good soldier who is showing up for work and competing.

 

[PhillyGreen]

You "sound" angry PG.
I should not have to tell you, Riley Cooper stinks. He does not have the talent to be a WR on this team. His contract extension got us 50 catches 500 yds and 3 TDs, a noticeable decline from his previous year--which only stands out because he sucked so bad before THAT year. Most of the INT's Philly QBs have thrown were being directed at Cooper. And yet he is on this team when other more talent players have been shown the door.

Nothing could be further than the truth. I do not think Riley Cooper is anything special except he is a really good blocking WR. My interpretation was your mentioning of him in your post was more about the his off field issues. The focus was on the one position that I would not say is CK's fault on the decline. Yes he let DJax go and Maclin came in and put up better numbers. The Chiefs overpaid for Maclin. He was not worth the money he got from them.

 

[PhillyGreen]

NFLPA reportedly exploring release of Evan Mathis | ProFootballTalk

Seems the NFLPA thinks Evan's release has more to do with skipping OTAs than anything else...

"Via Tim McManus of PhillyMag.com, the NFLPA is reviewing the decision to cut Mathis, a two-time Pro Bowl guard. Per McManus, the union is simply gathering information at this point.

It’s possible that the NFLPA suspects that the decision to cut Mathis constitutes retaliation for his decision to skip offseason workouts. "

They will never be able to prove it. I am sure it has to do with his not showing up for the OTA's but they will not be able to find any shred of evidence that is why he was cut. No different than most of here speculating like we know everything we all know nothing.

 

[deerpathdave]

NFLPA reportedly exploring release of Evan Mathis | ProFootballTalk

Seems the NFLPA thinks Evan's release has more to do with skipping OTAs than anything else...

"Via Tim McManus of PhillyMag.com, the NFLPA is reviewing the decision to cut Mathis, a two-time Pro Bowl guard. Per McManus, the union is simply gathering information at this point.

It’s possible that the NFLPA suspects that the decision to cut Mathis constitutes retaliation for his decision to skip offseason workouts. "

So "retaliation" suggests a rash, emotional decision, while I think this was anything but. Kelly simply thinks that Barbre will be a better LG this year than Mathis. He has seen him working at it for the last month, while Mathis sips Pina Coladas in Arizona.

You're holding Kelly to one standard and Mathis to another. Kelly you expect total dedication to winning a Super Bowl and are miffed at one bad month. BTW, I think Kelly is even more miffed than you are.

But with Mathis, you are fine with him pocketing his $5M salary and taking an additional month of vacation (in additional to the 4 months he already gets) while his teammates are hard at work? Sure its part of his union agreement that he is entitled to, but if winning is really important to Mathis, he would be hard at work too. I have no issue with Kelly holding his players to a high standard. It's his job to prepare his players. A player making over $5M a year needs to be a team leader and set the example.

It seems obvious from his teammate's reaction that this is not a one time example. If Jason Peters thinks they can do just fine without Mathis, who are we to second guess?

 

[ctc]

Yeah, this is Chip being a bit of a good guy here. He is giving Mathis what he asked for. Some have suggested he is somehow punishing the guy, but really I would be surprised if Mathis doesn't get a good contract from someone. I generally agree with your approach of letting him come to camp next week and inserting him with the second team.

I think they are serious about liking Tobin and Barbre as starters and putting Mathis in with second string would not have been just for show for a week or two. Mathis would have been seriously unhappy with that and the Eagles would have been reticent to pay him the big bucks to sit on the bench. At the end of the day, I think it was Chip's assessment that Mathis simply lost his starting job because the other guys played well and participated in the offseason program. Mathis as a backup was not going to work out.

If that were indeed the case he'd have cut him loose much earlier.

They like Tobin based on last years performance? You mean replacing him with Mathis as soon as he was healthy again was the coaching staffs mistake which they are only recognizing now?
Or was it right after he was replaced by Gardner?
And Barbre has a stellar track record doesn't he. oh wait. He didn't even play last year.

This is getting ridiculous.

 

[ctc]

So "retaliation" suggests a rash, emotional decision, while I think this was anything but. Kelly simply thinks that Barbre will be a better LG this year than Mathis. He has seen him working at it for the last month, while Mathis sips Pina Coladas in Arizona.

You're holding Kelly to one standard and Mathis to another. Kelly you expect total dedication to winning a Super Bowl and are miffed at one bad month. BTW, I think Kelly is even more miffed than you are.

But with Mathis, you are fine with him pocketing his $5M salary and taking an additional month of vacation (in additional to the 4 months he already gets) while his teammates are hard at work? Sure its part of his union agreement that he is entitled to, but if winning is really important to Mathis, he would be hard at work too. I have no issue with Kelly holding his players to a high standard. It's his job to prepare his players. A player making over $5M a year needs to be a team leader and set the example.

It seems obvious from his teammate's reaction that this is not a one time example. If Jason Peters thinks they can do just fine without Mathis, who are we to second guess?

Those OTA's tell you a lot about offensive linemen don't they.

 

[deerpathdave]

Those OTA's tell you a lot about offensive linemen don't they.

Well yes. You have weight room activities, classroom and OTAs all going on. Just about every player is there participating in all of that. Coaches track the weight room goals and evaluate every OTA. Practice and reps matter. Evidently they have some younger offensive lineman who have used the opportunity to impress the coaching staff.

Yes, by union rules they don't have to be here...none of them...not just Mathis....most guys on this message board have high expectations of their team. They want to see total dedication to winning a Super Bowl and anything less is unacceptable.

I find it strange that some of these same guys, want to fall back on the letter of the contract and have no issue with Mathis taking an extra month's vacation while his teammates are working on their game? No one is forcing him to be here, and in fact Kelly says, if he doesn't want to be here, Mathis can go play for any team he wants.

 

[Rey]

Mathis is gone because of a combination of things, none of which are his play. Barbre's a 30 year old, passed around, career journeyman with a total of 8 starts at the pro level (only 1 since 2009). Mathis on the other hand is a multiple pro bowl guy with 78 career starts ... c'mon man'.

 

[deerpathdave]

Mathis is gone because of a combination of things, none of which are his play. Barbre's a 30 year old, passed around, career journeyman with a total of 8 starts at the pro level (only 1 since 2009). Mathis on the other hand is a multiple pro bowl guy with 78 career starts ... c'mon man'.

The past is the past. What will Mathis do this year? Do you really think that Kelly is going to cut a clearly superior player? He is all about winning and if he thought he needed Mathis to do that he would be on the team.

 

[Deano]

Mathis is gone because of a combination of things, none of which are his play. Barbre's a 30 year old, passed around, career journeyman with a total of 8 starts at the pro level (only 1 since 2009). Mathis on the other hand is a multiple pro bowl guy with 78 career starts ... c'mon man'.

...and at 34, Mathis was well into the downside of his career. He was never big or physical and relied on quickness that was starting to go. At that age, you can expect injuries to start, which they did. On top of all this, he signed at contract that made him the 3rd highest paid OG at the time, but now it's not enough and he became a malcontent.

At his age and at the easiest replaceable position in football, that's a foolish argument by Mathis and his agent. He will sign and play with someone this year, but it won't be for 5.5 million and he surely won't get close to that next year even with incentives. Net result, Mathis' agent just cost him anywhere between 3-10 million dollars.

 

[eaglesnut]

WTF does Riley Cooper have to do with this?.....nothing. And for the record the Riley Cooper incident happened during Reid's tenure here and from what I can tell it has been handled. What has Riley Cooper done since then to warrants him being kicked off the team?

You have not listed one shred of evidence that supports your claim that doing what Chip says comes before talent. From what I can tell Chip has added talent and those that have not come on board are no longer here. He is not the first coach to follow that mantra and will not be the last either.

No that happened during chips first training camp.

And Riley Cooper is sort of that evidence. But desean is that evidence too. Doing it chips way is of greater importance than talent. It might work doing it that way, it might not. But it's what Chip is building here.

 

[Rey]

The past is the past. What will Mathis do this year? Do you really think that Kelly is going to cut a clearly superior player? He is all about winning and if he thought he needed Mathis to do that he would be on the team.

Yes ... because of salary and not conforming to Chip's ways. There's no way in hell anyone is going to convince me that a journeyman like Barbre's who's been passed around 5 times with 8 career starts (7 of which happened 6 years ago) is a better option day 1 for this team. Sorry, you want to sell me on a Day 2 rookie whom we're high on? ok ... I'd buy in, but Allen friggin' Barbre? I'll say again ... c'mon man'. Mathis is 33 ... OL can play at a high level well into their 30's.

 

[eaglesnut]

The past is the past. What will Mathis do this year? Do you really think that Kelly is going to cut a clearly superior player? He is all about winning and if he thought he needed Mathis to do that he would be on the team.

Yes he has already done it a bunch of times. He paid Cooper and cut desean. C'mon man. Chips not above making a mistake. And he's certainly not above hoping that he can get by with a lesser guy so that he can build his team culture his way. That's what just happened. You aren't doing much observing of the situation here. I thought that was kind of your thing?