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Evan Mathis released by Philadelphia Eagles

By Phil Naegely

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The writing was on the wall that Pro Bowl guard Evan Mathis wouldn’t be with the Philadelphia Eagles for long. On Thursday, NFL.com’s Ian Rapport first reported that Mathis was released by the Eagles.

He tweeted his thanks to the City of Brotherly Love for all of their support and memories over the years.

Mathis was told not to come to team activities after Mathis wasn’t happy about his current five-year, $25.5 million deal that he signed in 2012. In the offseason, the Eagles granted Mathis and his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, to find a trade partner, but none was found and the then Eagles offensive player wanted to restructure his deal as previously discussed between the team and Mathis. However, Howie Roseman was no longer in charge of player personnel decisions after Chip Kelly was given those duties.

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In short, this move was going to come sooner rather than later and his release should not shock anybody, including Eagles fans. As Kelly told the media during the draft, “Mathis was on the trading block for two years and nobody offered anything to us.”

It appears that the Eagles weren’t happy with Mathis, and he wasn’t happy with the Eagles. His teammates also haven’t been to pleased with him or his attitude and this could be why no other team felt their was value in trading for Mathis.

Mathis was drafted during the Andy Reid era and is the second starting guard the Eagles are now missing. Todd Herremans was released back in March. It’s clear that Chip Kelly will run the team to his liking; If a player does not fit into his vision of the team culture, then he will let them go real fast. Mathis is now the third player, DeSean Jackson and LeSean McCoy being the others, to reach the Pro Bowl last season and no longer be on the team currently.

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The 34-year-old guard will look for a new team fast as mandatory OTA’s and mini-camp are around the corner. On the other hand, Kelly won’t lose sleep over Mathis’ absence as other players found first-team reps during the team’s voluntary OTA’s. This is clear Kelly’s team now. With player personnel decision-making in his hands, it doesn’t take long for Kelly to get his way. This move also allows the team to move on past Mathis, whose absence was quickly becoming a distraction in  voluntary OTA’s, and focus on preparing for preseason and the 2015 NFL season.

It appears that Mathis thinks he is worth more than his actual value. This has shown through not getting any interest while on the trade market. Moving forward, it will be interesting to see where Mathis ends up, what his deal looks like with his next interested team, and if it is anywhere close to the pay-raise he wanted to remain with the Eagles. One thing is for sure: the next offense he plays for what play at as fast a pace as Kelly’s offensive scheme did.

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