Evan Mathis Update
Posted: March 23rd, 2015 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 229 Comments »This is not the news I wanted to come out of the owners meetings. Apparently the Eagles are shopping LG Evan Mathis and if a trade can’t be worked out, they could release him.
Ugh.
The benefit of trading Mathis…you get a late round pick and some cap space. The benefit of releasing Mathis…you get some cap space. I’d rather have the experienced LG in the starting lineup for one more season.
Obviously Chip Kelly isn’t making this move unless it makes some kind of sense to him. I don’t know that the extra cap space is going to lead to any deal of significance so that angle doesn’t seem compelling. Maybe the Eagles see Mathis as a declining player who is easier to replace than we think. Maybe there is some other way to look at this, but I’m not sure what that would be.
We’ll see what happens.
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Eagles will not get compensatory picks this year.
— Geoff Mosher (@GeoffMosherCSN) March 24, 2015
No shocker there.
And there won’t be any comp picks next year either.
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Mathis was PFF’s No. 1 guard in 2013 and No. 2 guard last season.
PFF’s love for Evan is well known and probably a little overboard.
Well, that explains it. He’s a declining player.
Maclin and Carey Williams won’t bring in comp picks?
they would be for 2016 draft
Maclin is cancelled out by Maxwell.
The Eagles cut Williams so he doesn’t count as FA loss.
They should get comp picks for signing him in the first place. Or at least some coupons for Home Depot.
If we’re going to start handing out sympathy picks like this, the Raiders are going to have a zillion of the things to make up for that contract they gave Nate.
wait, I was assuming the no comp picks post was about this upcoming draft.. no?
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or did they already calculate the comp picks for NEXT YEAR?
No, no. Tommy is just saying, it basically can’t happen because we signed Murray, Maxwell, Mathews, Thurmond…
We lost, comp pick wise, only Maclin and Allen. And while they both got good contracts, Maxwell and Murray got good contracts too.
Todd, CWill, Cole, Shady, those don’t count, because they were cut/traded.
Moshers statement was only for this season.
ok… so im correct that the NO COMP pick post is about this upcoming draft, and NEXT YEARS comp picks havent been calculated yet..correct?
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I def didnt expect any comp picks for next year, not when you spend almost your entire cap
Why create another hole? He is solid and is not that expensive. And again why do this after FA? Killin me here Chip
he is 34 years old and makes 6mil, how long did you think he was going to still play at a high level?
That’s really the key point. $7 mil is a lot of money to allocate to a declining interior OL.
That cap space could be used to extend young vets like Fletch or Kendricks.
Maybe until we had a quality replacement. If we were planning on getting rid of Mathis, then I say keep Todd on the cheap. Now we have two big holes in our interior and these two bruising backs who have unknowns to run behind. We could afford to keep Mathis another year, or again pull the trigger before FA and get a quality replacement. I really hope we do use the extra space to re-up Kendricks and Cox. I’m not a supporter of potentially getting rid of Kendricks.
Trade/cut Mathis and sign Stefen Wisniewski?
Is he still on the market??
Yep. Most likely it’s that teams aren’t offering him the $ he wants. But maybe, just maybe he’s waiting to see how a certain situation plays out?
doubt it…. young mans game, I assume we will go young via the draft or a young kid like Tobin..
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we are trying to shed salary. you arent shedding salary if you just give Mathis money to someone else…
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I assume two Guards will be drafted(grasu probably one of them).. but Tobin will probably get strong consideration for one of the starting spots
“but Tobin will probably get strong consideration for one of the starting spots”
That would suck imho. He couldn’t hold his ground last year and we need a very good O-Line. For Bradford and for Murray/Mathews.
Not saying he can’t improve, but I would hate it if Chip just gives him the job. And releasing Mathis and let him battle with two Rooks – that’s not that much of a fight.
Now, Chip is much, much closer than I am, but we all saw Tobin. And we all saw it wasn’t good.
no offense, you and i have NO Friggin clue what Tobin is capable of. whether we thought he was great, or horrible last year, as a former Offensive lineup I can promise that we have no clue what he is capable after seeing a young kid get thrust into his first action, and we made him play next to a different Lineman every other game…. without continuity for a young Lineman like Tobin, we dont stand a chance of seeing what he is really capable of
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I have NO DOUBTS he is better then what we saw last year… How much better? starting caliber better? beats me… nothing to do but wait and see
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how can you be THAT worried? chip is obsessed with Offense, he knows his offense is NOTHING without good OL play… his offense is NOTHING without an OL, and you can bet that he knows that… I would expect chip to have a quality starting line in september, we just have to wait and see… chip is obsessed with offense, if there was one position besides QB that he wont short change its the OL…. wait til the other shoe drops before we condemn the move
I’m worried because we have 3 WR on our roster, with 2 bringing question marks with them (I like Huff, but we can’t be sure he won’t make those stupid mistakes again).
We habe ZERO starting caliber Safety next to Jenkins.
If we would have filled those holes in FA, I would say: fine, just go OL early in the draft. Chip will handle it. But right now, we’re close to having as many holes as draft picks and that’s just not a good situation to be in. That’s a 2011 recipe for disaster, to be honest. And we all witnessed how much the 2011 class hurt us in ’11 and ’12.
Tobin played RG. To his left was Kelce, to his right Lane. No changeups since the Texans game, when Mathis came back and Todd went to IR. That was when, Week 9? 10?
And he gave up inside pressure a lot. No QB likes that, but if you have a fargile QB like Bradford, it’s especially bad.
And the running game didn’t work.
It’s not like we haven’t seen Tobin in real action. He was the weak link in a Line that couldn’t protect the QB and couldn’t get the running game going when it mattered.
SPPORTTZZZ SZZZIENNNZZ FORRZZZ TOBINZZZ!!Z!!!!
Wisniewski just turned 26, so he’s not too old. This seems too fantasy football-ish to be real, but it is odd that he hasn’t signed anywhere yet. Visited Seattle, which traded Unger, but left w/o a deal. Maybe the Birds need to free up cap space from Mathis before offering enough money to Wisniewski? Probably far-fetched, but it would be nice to add a capable young veteran who would serve as fantastic insurance for Kelce at C.
Is this news? I think March 12 was the first time “Mathis being shopped” reports surfaced. E.g., NFL.com 🙂 http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000478537/article/philadelphia-eagles-working-to-trade-evan-mathis
New reports came out today with his agent being at the NFL owners meetings.
I have absolutely no faith in our backups. You’re creating another need if you cut Mathis. You can argue about cap space but at least Mathis plays on a level that justifies paying what we pay for him. If there needs to be a cut then it’s Demeco.
Agree! Mathis is pretty expensive, but after all not THAT expensive. And you can argue that even a 5th rounder could be enough to trade him, but if you need cap space, just give Ryans the pay cut he just has to get.
We already need one Guard, I don’t know why you open up two starting Guard spots while cutting a good Guard. A trade (player for player, Safety, would be ideal) – if you get something in return, you can make that move. I wouldn’t get a release, though.
you arent supposed to have faith inb the backups, you dont get to see them every day in practice, and you only got to see them on a OL where they played musical chairs every week… whether you think Tobin is great or horrible last year, i can assure you we werent seeing the best he is capable of if he is lining up next to a different lineman every week…
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we are getting younger on the OL, this is a good thing… rather get all the changes out of the way now, then to cut a bunch of players, and do this all again next offseason…. whether the change came this year, or next year, getting younger on the line was inevitable
Isn’t this just b.s. put out there by Drew Rosenhahus? Why would the Eagles undercut their leverage in a trade to say they will release? It’s probably the same situation as last year, Rosenhaus can’t find any trade partner to send pick and take Mathis’s contract, so he feeds this to willing beat reporters to goad Eagles into releasing him.
Why do it w/o compensation?
Rumors coming from locker room do not paint a pretty picture. Not sure what is true at this point but it looks DeJax like. Maybe someone can cite sources, all I’m seeing are quotes but no citations.
Ugh. If that is true, then releasing Herremans while this was festering makes less sense. Why go into draft, end of FA with two holes on the line and having to rely on pick to upgrade. We all remember how the last time we HAD to draft a guard went.
I think they think Herremanns is done irregardless.
because we want to get younger on the OL… not the end of the world, this year, next year, this day was going to come soon whether it was now or next offseason.
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for them to cut both, i assume they think one of the young guards, probably Tobin, is starting material
What quotes? What rumors? Be more specific.
There is a quote now on BGN, without citation, saying that there was friction in the locker room, and also citing numerous attempts at photo bombing Chip to generate hits on an Instagram account. Since there was no citation, could be BS. But it would explain what is happening. We need more info from reliable people.
I read that and I’m pretty sure that was someone being facetious/sarcastic. The person basically saying this is what you’ll hear after Mathis is released just like you heard all types of things about DeSean after he was released.
After reading JM’s post above I think you are right. It was just someone making a joke without sharing it was a joke.
Happens all the time which is why I listed caveats as to accuracy.
So the story is FALSE unless proven by reliable sources.
All this time your sources are the comments under the 24/7 articles?!? Say it isn’t so.
If you’re talking about this:
it’s simply a parody of this about DeSean Jackson from last year:
Well the Eagles didn’t leak information this time to Eliot Shorr Parks because this is what he reported this morning:
“The team’s decision to try to trade Mathis is strictly financial, as he is set to make $6.5 million this upcoming season. Mathis is also scheduled to earn $7 million in 2016.
If the team is successful and does move Mathis, it will leave them with a major hole at offensive guard. With all of the top free agent guards already signed, the Eagles would have to address the need through the draft.”
What’s A. Stephen Smith going to be speculating about CK’s motives if Mathis is cut?
Let it go.
like I said yesterday… Mathis is gone, they want to get younger, and get his salary off the books…. knew this had nothing to do with getting value in return. its a cap and age dump and no one is paying anything for a 34yr old guard
Chip is win now, whether we like it or not. Mathis is old, but it’s not like we have a good replacement on the roster. And it’s not like we haven’t enough holes already. And we only have the draft in front of us.
And all this while Ryans is sitting there with a HIGHER cap hit. I know what you think about Ryans and his health and all of that, but if you need cap room, give the guy a pay cut who is clearly overpaid instead of letting a productive Guard go while you have no one who can replace him. And no starting Safety next to Jenkins. And only 3 WR on the roster, with one who can only block and another coming of a season with some rookie mistakes.
i dont think this was just cap motivated..l think we are transitioning to a new era of eagles… within the next two years, Celek, Meco, Mathis, and possibly JP WILL ALL BE GONE… im not going to get carried away by which he decides to cut this year, and which he decides to cut a year later… they are all on their way out anyway,..
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and dont assume that Meco’s contract wont be adjusted in some way. Just because it hasnt happened yet, doesnt mean he will start the season with that contract
Well, there are actually at least 16 games to play first. It’s not like young Guards have to sit a year or two to learn, if they are talented, you can plug and play. That’s why we could replace Todd with Draft/Tobin/Barbre this year and Mathis with a draft pick next year.
And if it’s a money problem, then give Meco the pay cut. We all assume it will be done, but when you do a salary dump of a good player (even though he isn’t as good as he was in 2013), then start with the most overpaid player on the roster first.
i have had wait 8-9 oregon players I dont like jammed down my throat these past two year? finally there are two guards from Oregon that i love and now chip is going to start passing on ducks? i sure as hell hope not….
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start Lane and Fisher on the right side, two young, super athletic, mean Mofo’s… Kelce in the middle, Grasu and Tobin competing for the LG spot next to Peters, I assume Grasu would win that..if Grasu’s arms were 33’1/2 instead of 32inches everyone would be raving about him as a guard… the only reason you all over look him is because he didnt run at the combine which is AWESOME! kid is athletic as it gets,. thank god he didnt show it at the combine, chip knows exactly what a smart, tough, high character athlete that kid is,…
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i was hoping since last year to come out of this years draft with Fisher and Grasu…. maybe if we didnt get them, i would be more upset about this, but i expect them to be joining us next month
funny, I hear the exact opposite…. straight from the players mouth(off the record of course)
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there is no friction between players and Chip..players still high on chip from what I hear. players still want to be a part of what chip is building, they still believe in chip as much as ever
LOL, oh my god you just don’t stop. This is so great.
Sure it will work out as well as releasing Jackson for nothing did last year. Understand some of the reasoning to release him (advanced age, coming off an injury-plagued year) but what good does simply releasing him and freeing up what amounts to moderate cap space do this late in the offseason?
Then there is the whole thing with keeping Ryans this offseason. Just baffled at this point the direction that Kelly is taking this team in because Kelly the GM has made moves which refute what Kelly the coach has publicly said in the previous few seasons.
Opportunity costs maybe behind some of these moves that don’t square with typical front office moves. If Mathis starts all 16 games this year, then some young OG of the future doesn’t get those starts and doesn’t gain experience for the future; I.e. Mathis starting would cost the chance to develop the starting guard of the future.
And is he on the roster? Tobin is not good.
Pretty sure they are high on Babre. He would most likely fill one of the guard spots.
He’s 31 this year..
high on him as a backup isnt always the same as high on him going into a year as the starter
He actually is.
I think Kelly and Stoutland is much higher on Barbre and Tobin than fans
I’m working on my post on Tobin. Through his college tape and 4 of his 7 starts last year.
He’s starting quality based off of last years film. With upside to improve.He’s downright good in the run game, very good in space, and while he gives up like 3 or 4 pressure/hits a game it’s nothing too bad. If I put on the Giants game last year, told you to watch the LG and stripped off the numbers, you would think it was Mathis playing.
Also by and large fan opinion is stupid. Two years ago people didn’t think Ceddy was worth a damn, because he didn’t have a big profile, and wasn’t a flashy player.
Last September how many people wanted Polk to be cut? Most of them were screaming to give Polk 20 carries a game by Halloween.
Ced wasn’t flashy but he had a few flashes? He knifed through OLs to stop RBs in the backfield a few times in 2013. Tobin is a victim of higher standards. He might be serviceable but he certainly didn’t hold his own in the few games without Kelce.
is tobin a finished product/maxed out veteran who is destined to not improve?.. dont you think you should see him play next to a Center and T that he actually gelled and has some continuity with before we can decide that he is a hot pile of garbage?
I’m talking going into 2013. He played a decent amount of snaps in 2012 and people still hated him.
I’m telling you I’ve done the tape work. I’ve watched SF, Rams, Giants, Cards, and he’s more than held his own.
You can argue off narrative, I’m telling you what the film says.
I don’t really remember the Ced hate though. I do remember people favoring Landri over him in the wide 9 and the other DT in the preseason.
I’ll remain cautiously optimistic then.
It wasn’t Bennie Logan level hate but a large chunk of the fan base thought he wouldn’t even make the roster, despite having played well in his rotational role the previous season and having played a 34 DE in college.
They already have the other G spot to fill and I have a feeling the wheels are going to come off faster on Peters than they think.
A lot of injuries/surgeries and even last year his play started to slip.
I was hoping they would draft a T high (or a G they think is capable of shifting out to LT) this year, shift him inside at G for a year or so, and then have a possible heir apparent to Peters.
I think its clear that Lane is the heir for Peters. The question is finding a versatile guy who can hold down RG until Lane makes the switch allowing them to kick out to RT. I really think OL in the 1st just makes sense. Clemmings please!
Honestly this Mathis thing just feels like one giant game of chicken. Hope I’m right.
you arent. say goodbye 🙂
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CA1IcFkWsAApM2i.jpg
Andy Reid is one of a kind
I understand if you’re trying to clear money for something in particular, but just to clear money and create another hole in the roster? This is a time we need to improve the O-line, not let it fall apart.
My thoughts exactly. Cutting him doesn’t make a lot of sense at the moment.
Though if we spend 1st and 2nd round picks on linemen then maybe, but man cutting him for the sake of cap space makes no sense.
Generally speaking, no problem with investing 1st and 2nd round picks for two young, talented OL. But don’t forget, we have 3 WR on our roster, and we play a lot of 11 personell (maybe not so much in 2015, but it was that way the last two years). And we have literally NO starting caliber Safety next to Jenkins.
If we would have gotten McCourty or another Safety, it would be much easier to go OL – OL. Then WR – WR. After that, bpa. But we have holes at WR and S + then two Guard spots. That’s why a Mathis release would make no sense. If we wouldn’t have holes at WR and S, I’d say just go OL early and it’s going to be fine. But we have those holes.
Will have to wait for Tyler’s review, but the only thing that makes sense right now is that Chip believes that Tobin can fill one of the G spots next year competently. I’m not comfortable with that answer, but certainly Chip has more data than I do to make that decision. Gulp.
He has more data, he knows waaaay more than we do. But one thing is for sure: we had JP – Mathis – Kelce – Tobin – Johnson from the Texans game on. We couldn’t move the ball in the games when it mattered, we couldn’t run it, we couldn’t protect Sanchez. We lost the important games because our O-Line wasn’t good enough.
And now Chip is telling me: I let the better of the two Guards go and we’ll be fine?
I was one of the loudest critics of the OL last year, but even I had to admit it got much better after Kelce knocked Molk back to the bench. The problem with the offense down the stretch was multi-faceted: Sanchez couldn’t throw beyond 7 yards in the air; Shady DDR’d a lot of easy yards into the toilet; and the OL still had its issues. I think they ranked in that order, however. The line play was significantly better in December than it was in October, especially in pass protection. And having gone back with my limited knowledge and re-watched October, Tobin was the least of the problems in the middle of the line. Molk and Gardner were consistently awful in pass pro, and aspiring to average in run blocking. Tobin struggled at times, especially in pass pro, but probably gets some slack for having to deal with Molk next to him and allegedly playing through a high ankle sprain.
Again, I’m not comfortable saying Tobin is starter level, but it sounds like Tyler is leaning that way after his much more informed review of 2014 Tobin. So it’s likely Chip doesn’t view G as a hole in the roster right now.
You’re saying October, I say Week 9/10, when Kelce (9) and Mathis (10) were back. I’m not holding Tobin accountable for Gardner or Molk (they were awful), but since Week 10 against the Texans, we had Peters – Mathis – Kelce – Tobin – Johnson and the O-Line was part of the problem at the end of the year.
And now the solution is replace Mathis with a Rookie and we will be better?
Now, like I said, I wouldn’t be against drafting OL heavy early, if we’d have some WR and one starting caliber S next to Jenkins. But we have those holes and we have to fill them.
And because we have these holes, I’d say keep Mathis and replace him next year, when we hopefully don’t have as many holes when we go into the draft.
I disagree respectfully. One of the reasons I think CK traded Shady was because of the negative yardage plays. I forget which one, but one of the Seattle defenders said Shady was scared to get hit and they could see that. If he goes forward and gets 2 yards instead of lost yardage, then our 3rd downs wouldn’t have been nearly as long.
I thought the line played well enough at the end of the year, but they didn’t get good enough play from both the QB and RB positions.
CK’s had winning seasons forming a roster the traditional way of having at least adequate starters at as many position as possible. This approach produced 10 wins per season but no game in Feb. New approach seems to take a step back if necessary to create a better team going forward. This team should be much better in Dec. than Sept. And much better in’16 than in ’15. Get your proto-typical player young, apply good coaching, have a group of ascending players, and aim to peak in some future Feb.
I’ll say this again….if they release Mathis and get nothing like they did with Jackson, that is another example of horrible asset management by Chip & Howie. Mathis is a PB level OG and our OL is supposed to be, according to Chip himself, the foundation of this offense…now you make the OL weaker and expect Bradford to perform at a high level? There had better be a second step to this if it goes down, otherwise it is not only stupid but reckless. If you know you do not want to keep a player or cannot afford to, you should know in advance so you can trade them for value before others find out or it becomes a public story…isn’t this one of Howie’s main jobs? Cap management?
Maybe Chip wants that 3rd rounder instead of the fourth from the Bradford trade?
Yeah, I’ve been pretty supportive of all these moves but I will not agree with this one if in fact it does happen.
I think you overestimate the number of secrets in the NFL. A significant number of players or the trading block would be released for cap reasons if no trade partner was found and everyone pretty much knows it. Trades still happen (Sproles!) because teams are willing to give up assets to avoid getting into a bidding war for the player on the open market. In the case of Jackson and Mathis nobody is/was as worried about bidding for them on the open market because their contracts with the Eagles were richer than most would be willing to take on.
That said, releasing Mathis would be dumb. If you can’t find a trade partner just hold onto him. No point going into the draft with two holes at G.
Exactly…if you do not get value, keep them! The guy is a very good player. We saw our offense get squeezed when we did not have Jackson last season and we also saw some injuries on the OL cause a big step down to our reserves…if Chip proves he can improve the OL by moving Mathis i.e. there is a second step if they do release him, then I’ll reconsider, but one cannot keep just dumping high level players and expect it to not bite you in the rear as it did last season
if we keep Mathis, i hope his contract gets adjusted. and he is old and has started to get injured so we would have to draft guards as insurance anyway
dude… how many more years did you think Mathis was going to start for us? playing in this offense is a young mans game… we had old JP, old herremans whos body was breaking down, Mathis started getting all types of injuries… we had to get younger on the OL, and slashing some salary was also important since we had so much invested in the OL.
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unless you thought Mathis would start for us the next 3-4 years, who cares if they cutr him now, or next season?
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this is exciting for me, it means we are going to invest in some OL youth
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Guess im not that surprised when we are talking about a draft with two ELITE Guard prospects from Oregon being available. Both Grasu and Fisher known for elite athleticism at their position. I dont know anything abut fishers personality other then he plays mean, but i hear Gra su is a great young man, leader, high character, extremely intelligent..he can start at Guard and backup Kelce.. kelce better bring it, Grasu is talented enough to take his job… fortunately we would need Grasu at guard…
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Fisher/Grasu…. Reinforcements are on the way… Two top 50 talents who became elite prospects playing and practicing at our unique tempo who chip recruited, and knows well….. I think we have to be FOOLS to pass up on adding the uber athletic Oregon Guards over old expensive Todd and Mathis…
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Grasu/Fisher, coming to a lincoln financial field near you… lol
Geagle – they need to improve the depth at OL which we saw killed us last season. So I am fully on board with drafting OL and developing them and always have been. However, they should be depth, not starters. The starters we have minus RG are good and we need them to run the offense Chip wants to run effectively. Plus we already have one hole at RG and do not need another at LG with no one on the market to help us and only the draft to fill the spots…if we expect to be an elite team, Chip cannot have a mediocre OL.
Plus again smart roster and asset management requires that if you are going to move a PB level player, you get value for that player. Its not always going to be equivalent value, I understand Mathis is older, expensive and has an injury history, but you have to get something that will help our team. They got zippo for Jackson and if they get zippo for Mathis, that is poor management. If you can rework his contract, do that. If you can give him a bit more this year in exchange for cutting the back end of the deal/years, do that. But simply releasing him for nothing not only hurts the Eagles, but it helps some other team that scoops him up that we’ll probably being competing against. Jackson hurt us last year as that 2nd WSH game was a must win for us and he got off at our expense. Chip/Howie cannot allow that to happen.
Furthermore, the interior part of our OL is important because Kelce is under-sized and teams know Bradford is highly immobile. They will continue to drive, stunt and blitz in the middle of our OL right into the face of Bradford…QB hate being rushed up the middle because it takes away the pocket, forces them to one side or the other (thus cutting the field in half) and may cause them to make mistakes before they get sacked. The interior part of the OL has to be solid to protect Bradford, help our run game succeed and defeat those interior blitzes.
not sure our depth is as big of a problem as we think..
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When we watched our backups play in the spots they practiced all offseason, next to the guy they practiced to all offseason, they were DOMINANT in the preseason… as someone who only ever played OL, i can assure you we arent going to see the best a young player has to offer if you throw him into game action for the first time, and every game he is playing next to a different Lineman.
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Its not possible to see the best our backups have to offer until you see them play next to guys they have gelled with, none of our backups were in a healthy position last year…. What you saw from Tobin last year, Is going to be very very different then what you will see from the kid if he starts practicing with JP on his left and Kelce on his right all summer…
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we draft two starting Caliber OL with G/T versatility of Fish, and G/C versatility of Grasu and our depth will be fine:
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RT: Lane(backup Fisher or Dennis)
RG: Fisher( backup Barbre)
C: Kelce(backup Grasu)
LG: Grasu (backup Tobin)
LT Peters (backup Barbre/Lane)
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of course its possible that they also get another OL in the late rounds or undrafted that ends up being good..
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I dont know that if we have a year like last year where your entire OL gets hurt, that we would ever have enough depth to handle that, especially if we dont even carry 10 OL on our roster
and if you think Stoutland knows what he is doing, probably safe to assume that young players like Dennis, Garner and Tobin will be better then they were last year. These arent Maxed out veterans we are talking about… puppies that are still growing, who im sure last years experience will have helped their dwevelopment
Yes let’s dump a pro bowl LG and his salary while still being in the books of almost 7 million for a limping LB…#inchipwetrustistough
Meco and Mathis wont be on the field this year, who cares which one they cut?
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how long did you think Mathis was going to continue starting for us? unless you think he had more then two years left, how can you complain about this?
What are you talking about?! Why would Mathis be NOT on the field this year? Unlike Meco he’s not coming off a torn Achilles. He didn’t show any signs of losing a step either.
So provided the only reasoning behind releasing Mathis is to dump some money AND creating another – unnecessary – hole on our roster is just insane in my honest and humble opinion.
If we really want to see some serious results in year 3 under Chip Kelly I’d rather keep Mathis another season until he shows first signs of being on the decline…
because we are cutting him, and cuz Meco probably wont even be healthy til October at the earliest and he will be on the bench
You. Not. Sense. Makes. Any.
Again: if you can logically explain how cutting Mathis outright will improve this team this season then I will buy you Fish & Chip(s).
chip is obsessed with offense.. his offense is trash without an OL…. do you really think this man is going to field some crap starting OL that kills his entire offense, which will kill our defense because of the 3 and outs?
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IF ANYTHING, by now we should have learned not to get crazy over this shit until we see the other shoe drop
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we were paying good money to todd, kelce, mathis, peters… didnt take a cap genius to know we had too much invested in the OL, we are going younger, and a byproduct of going younger is eliminating high salary for a rookie contract…
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the last position i worry about chip going into the season with is OL… he can go with less talent at WR… he knows his offense is nothing without an OL… I wouldnt worry too much… whether they made this move this year, or next year, does it really matter? it needed to be made in the near future, id rather rip all the band aids off now, get rid of all the veterans so we can start building chemistry back up… instead of making all these tough changes now, and then next year do it all over again cutting Mathis, Celek, Meco and not sure about JP>..
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relax, you will be watching a quality OL in september… we are talking about the easiest position to draft,. one of the few plug n play positions..
You constantly forget that we have holes at WR and S. I’m sure if we wouldn’t have those holes, nobody would be really scared about letting Mathis go. If you are in a position to go OL early in the draft, I think we’ll be fine.
But if Chip goes OL – OL, who is going to play Safety? Who is going to play WR? Chip could fix the OL, if this would be the only hole, but it isn’t.
i dont forget anything my friend, and we seem to have a very different definition of “EARLY”
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I expect whoever the GM of the Eagles is to get quality contributors in the first 4 rounds, and better be getting eventual starters out of top 100 picks… I dont view 3rd and 4th round picks as chopped Liver, for me, THATS EARLY, and if you dont get a player in those rounds you FAILED…
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I also dont seem to have the same confidence as you that they will spend an early pick on a safety in this draft… I wouldnt at all be surprised to see them wait til the 5th again for a safety, truth is, i wouldnt be surprised if they didnt draft one at all and thought that competition we have at that position with young players will end up providing a quality starter… i dont know if thats right or wrong, but i HAVE A HARD TIME looking at this safety class and seeing kids they feel they just have to Have..
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I have expected them to draft two OL this year for a long time bud… how long have i been ranting and raving about Fish and Grasu? since at least last summer?
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If they get two OL and a WR in the first 3 rounds I think they are fine…. find another WR to replace Brad smiths roster spot, a TE and hopefully a safety in rounds 4-5..
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wheres the problem?
i wouldnt want to have to count on rookie CBs, or QBs… but if I had to count on rookies, Guard and RB are the positions to do it….
So you’re telling me, Chip said: I’ll invest 10m into the Safety position to fill this damn hole. And when McCourty said no, he said: hell, f*ck it, this position will suck as always, I just don’t invest anything and let us get beat over the top again and again and again?
Does that sound like a smart thing to do? Is a guy who just traded his star RB because he danced too much and who signed the most expensive Corner on the market because the CBs were awful last year really OK with a bunch of scrubs who don’t have starter skills at the Safety position?
Remember, Maragos and especially Prosinski are pure STer. Prosinski actually was too bad of a Safety for the freaking Jaguars to keep him.
Then there is Wolff, a player Kelly threw under the bus last year and basically called him a pussy before it turned out that there was a serious injury. He had surgery.
There is Reynolds, who despite our bad Safety play last year couldn’t get a roster spot. And there is Watkins, who they switched to Corner last year. Those guys are the answer? We release an old, but still pretty quality Guard to invest more draft picks into the O-Line and ignore the Safety position?
You say often times you’re a Defense guy. You know your Defense is just as good as your weakest link more often than not. I simply don’t want to believe that a Coach who wants to win now just ignores a position of glaring need.
nope,.. I assume he saw Devin as the perfect fit that would transcend our defense… i dont assume he will just throw money or draft picks at a position for the fuck of it… after he struck out on McCourty, what did he do about the safety position? NOTHING…. so you cant fathom him not wasting a pick in the first 4 rounds if he cant get a safety he really believes in?
lets pretend we didnt have a hole at safety… lets pretend we have Chancellor and Earl Thomas as our starting safeties for the next 4 years…. which of these safety prospects do you like so much that you would want to spend a pick on him even if it wasnt an immediate need?
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just because I think he will draft two OL early, doesnt mean it will happen, and it doesnt mean you couldnt get quality OL help later if there was a great safety for us to draft early on…. no i dont at all think chip will sign or draft someone just out of desperation… i think he only adds players he loves at the appropriate value for how high he thinks of them…. when he didnt get McCourty,. did he turn his attention to the next best safety just for the fuck of it? no…
I sure hope there is not only one, but at least two Safeties he likes and knows he will get (one of them) in the draft. Because otherwise, not signing a veteran stop gap (AT LEAST) is just suicide. I think close to 100 percent of the fans wanted Nate Allen gone. If Chips plan is to DOWNGRADE the Safety position even more, after giving us hope when he went all in on McCourty, I just can’t get behind that. That would really suck in my book and I would see 0 logic behind that.
Because on Defense, there is no Chip Kelly magic. There is only Billy D, who did a great job with the front 7 but just flat out sucked with DBs. Two years in a row. Chung on Bryant, Fletcher on Bryant and Jackson, remember this? Billy D needs TALENT in that secondary.
Watkins has always been a CB. Todd played with one arm last year..it wasn’t pretty at times but he still looked better than the backups.
I think to be fair, if they went OL-OL and that line is dominant – the receivers will have all the time in the world to get open.
Safety… Well that’s a different issue.
I also thought (though I don’t know big boards) what if he went OL-DL or DL-OL because he thinks he get get another Cox on the other end?
IMO, I have no idea what he wants, but I think he needs 3 OL in this draft. G, T (of the future), and G/C. The first two being pressing needs. The T can be a year project to play behind Lane, then when Peters is done we can move Lane over and we got a T already in place. When Kelce went down, we really took a serious hit at that position, so if we could get someone to fill there or G in case of injury it’s not as bad of a drop off.
Just my musings about what I’d like to see in this draft. So I guess OL-WR-OL-S/OL-S/OL if the value is there. I’m still willing to think if healthy Wolff can manage the spot (or hoping).
i dont disagree with you, but I think 3 OL is pushing it when two players he recruited will solve the problem:
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1) Fisher, starts at RG next year, eventually moves to RT when Lane takes over for JP on the left side
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2) Grasu, starts at LG next year, but if Kelce gets hurt he will slide over to center and another guard will come in off the bench… center is too important to have backup trash ;like molk
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Tobin is also still in the fold… i dont buy Barbre as a starter
*drools
I can’t, but I want some fish and chips though.
If Mufasa is on the bench and wont be healthy, why havnt we reduced his salary yet?
“yet”!!!!!!!! why didnt they cut Mathis yet? whats your point? all in due time my friend….and if they arent going to do anything with his money does it matter?
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you cant fathom chip wanting to get yuonger on his high tempo OL? you cant fathom wanting to get a young athlete in there instead of a 34yr old who just had an injury filled season? you find this THAT surprising?
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wtf. we knew mathis was getting traded weeks ago, but now that we cant get a 6th or a petty 7th its the end of the world? lol
I can 100% see why they would want to get younger as Mathis is ancient in todays NFL, but I also cant see why we would keep Mufasa at 7 million
and if the season starts and he is cashing checks that reflect his current 7mil dollar deal I will agree with you 100%…. but just because something hasnt happened yet, doesnt neccesarily mean that it wont…. Truth is, Meco isnt even going to be ready in september, so I certainly cant sit here and defend paying him that money…
if you put down the PFF rankings and the probowl nod, yu would see that his play was not up to his normal standards last year..was it because of the injuries or was it because he is declining? how can you answer that? its possible that the trainers who measure all his ability are seeing a decline in him, possible that injuries piling up are a sign of age decline…
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two great oregon guards in this draft… color me not surprised this is happening,..
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this time next year I doubt there is more then one 30yr old still on our roster
hee haw, hee haw
change your name to “Eore” lol
now that’s funny…
when he cant out debate me with football talk, he starts to run his mouth..just jabbed him back in his place… no harm, if he can dish it, then he can shut up and take it lol
Having a reasonable football talk with someone who’s got a borderline personality is actually a waste of time. Now back to your tablets and Nick FOles highlights…
Don’t forget…
You remind me so much of Andre from Empire. Lol.
sorry i dont get the gay pop refrences… but considering you remind me of bthe donkey fromn winnie the pooh… fair enough…
He’s not the gay one…
#sportsscience. At least we hope.
Chip needs Mathis cap space to restructure and extend Bradford with bonus. Then he increases Bradford trade value by trading cap space in the MM trade. Boom.
That’s not true. You don’t need to create more cap space for extending Sammie. In fact extending Sammie would create more cap space….
You need it when you trade him and his bonus accelerates all into this year.
Problem with that thinking is if I agree with you we will be both wrong.
No, I see what he is saying. You don’t NEED to increase Bradford’s cap number to extend him, but if you OFFER an immediate payout to make the future years more attractive, Bradford becomes more attractive to other teams. In essence, you would be trading away cap space.
Seems like an arbitrage moment. Hinkie would do it.
If they wanted to save cap room why not just approach “mufasa” with a restructure?
That’s the one minion $$$ question…
still think that may be on the horizon
like I said yesterday, this will end up mirroring the Desean situation:
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chip tried to trade desean the first year he was here/chip tried to let Mathis find a trade partner last year
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chip kept desean for a year when he couldnt trade him/chip brought mathis back for last year..
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after the year Chip cut desean when he couldnt get value for him/ mathis will get cut if we cant get value for him…
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Of course Part of this is a cap dump(money always matters), but i do think the other part of it is we want to get younger on the OL.. think this offense is a young mans game… after this offseason I expect Jason Peters, Mufasa and Celek to be the last of the Mohicans(old heads on the roster)
Fans still trying to figure out how CK thinks and make some sense of it..good luck. I’ll help a little bit — you can’t.
not that complicated… his offense is a young mans game, we are getting younger on the OL.. a byproduct of getting younger is SLASHING MONEY.. we lost Mathis and Herremans high salary and they will probably be replaced by cheaper rookie contracts.
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all the veterans will get cut the next two years… i dont get it, how much longer did people expect Mathis to start for us?
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after Next offseason, I doubt there will be more then one or two 30yr olds on our roster, if there are any at all…
GEagle, how about replacing Todd this and Mathis next year? What would be so wrong about that? You said many times yourself, Guards are plug and play. Let’s just keep Mathis for this year, while we won’t find someone who will play as good in 2015, and replace him in the draft next year.
you didnt have to sell me, im not the one cutting your favorite player… how can you expect me to be too upset when I have been ranting and raving about Fisher and Grasu since last year?
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continuity matters… when we make all these changes, we have to take steps backwards and start gelling all over again… id rather make as many of these tough cuts now, then to put our locker room thru so much change, get over it, gel together, and then rock the locker room again nbext year with significant change.,..
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get it all out of the way now, so we can start building together… i hate Oregon, I finally like two of their players in the draft, two kids that can start day 1 in the NFL, and im supposed to be upset over losing a 34 yr old? cut all the 30 year olds as far as im concerned
What do you mean finally two players? As I recall you still love Dion Jordon.
is Dion an Eagle? I do love Kiko, and Kyle….. unfortunately only 1 is an eagle and I havent seen him play yet
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you said: “i hate Oregon, I finally like two of their players in the draft, two kids that can start day 1 in the NFL, and im supposed to be upset over losing a 34 yr old?” Which is referring to the two Oregon OL in the draft. And yet you were all over Dion Jordon when he was coming out, so clearly you are contradicting yourself.
LOL smh..talking about the oregon players on our roster you donkey… why the fuck would I care about oregon players not onb our roster? hee haw hee haw
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go back to being invisible. wont let you get attention off my name… want some attention, get it with your football acumen.
What are you shaking your head at? The only 2 Oregon players you have ever liked coming out are Grasu and Fisher and yet its clear that you also like Jordon. That would be a grand total of THREE. How can anyone take your word for it, when you spew this?
probably because he said “in the draft” and you’re bringing up players already in the nfl … but that’s just a guess….
talking about all the Oregon players I dont like that have been added to our roster the past two years..
No. Everything Chip does is right. Until I forget to take my bipolar tablets again…
when you are rebuilding as much as we have this offseason, wouldnt you rather get it all out of the way now? its bad enough we are doing this in year 3, do you really want this crap to linger past this year? if you know these tough changes need to be made, no part of you would rather get this out of the way now so we can start building the next era the right way? personally this is already a crazy offseason… do it all now, and hopefully we can have a quiet offseason next year
Or, keep him and draft a mid-rounder with a lot of upside. He would get a year of coaching and technique improvement, and when they get rid of EM next year he may be ready to step in.
Win-win imo.
thats my preferred method for transitioning from old to young… keep the veteran, draft his eventual replacement, and when the young player proves you can no longer justify keeping him on the bench, thats when you cut the veteran…. thats always the ideal way of transitioning from old to young….. but if you need to draft a position to start right away, Guard and RB would be your best bet…
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The problem is, why are we cutting Trent Cole, Herremans, Mathis, but not Ryans? Why pay 7 mill for an ILB, when you just traded for Alonso
Not to mention — he’s coming off injury too. And don’t give the old “great locker room guy” crap. It’s a valid question…why keep him at that price…
cant cut Ryan, you will be screwing the hell out of him.
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you would be kicking him out mid rehab while you had him start doing his rehab at novacare with your trainers.
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No one, i mean NO ONE would pencil him in to start in September for them when thats only 10months removed from the injury… the players chip cut, all are capable of landing on their feet… you cut Demeco now, you are really killing that man. either he would get NO OFFERS, or someone will lowball the shit out of him take advantage of his desperation/limited options…
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if his contract never gets adjusted and he sits on the bench all year, it would be a curious decision, but i still assume some type of change to be made to that contract before the season starts….unless we dont plan on spending that money anyway, in which case i dont really care if they give it to Meco or pocket it
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throwing Meco out on his ass now, would be horrible for him… im not saying he deserves to keep the money, but thats not a lock to happen so ill cross that bridge when we get there…. cut, Celek, Herremans, Mathis, Cole, all these guys will land on their feet just fine… cutting Meco now would be very different…….
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but we will see…. im trying to learn from past mistakes and not get carried away until i see the second part of the plan. I think everything chip does is well thought out, and intended to make this team better… right now we can complain about what we are losing, but im trying to wait to see what we gain from this before I judge it…
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its not like chip hasnt gone into a draft targetting specific ducks before,.,.. what if he is going into this draft hell bent on adding Fisher and Grasu, how would you then view this move? just curious…
it’s a business…
Im sorry, but this is the NFL, you can kick everybody when you want. The Eagles would still be on the hook for his rehab no matter if he is cut or not.
You do not waste 7 mill, just because of sentimental value
LOL… you keep assuming he will go into the season with that contract.. SMH
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im sure chip will like having such a respected leader to make this major locker room overhaul… do i think he will value his leadership enough to pay him 7? Nope… last I checked the season doesnt start tomorrow pal
ryans is also the leader of the d, for whatever that is worth. interesting we all assumed casey played well as a backup but he’s gone unceremoniously
who said he is definitely gone? did he sign with someone? i wouldnt rule out something like Nate last year.. cant find any good deals, comes back for a year on a cheap contract.. but i wont lose sleep if he is gone, I wont lose sleep if they cut demeco today… just dont go fucking with my Kendricks/Kiko dream and Im happy
Why isn’t defense a younger man’s game to him?
I get saving money, but at what cost? What rook is gonna do what either of those guards would have?
Tobin is most likely going in as 1 replacement
Ok Tobin is okay… as RG. Toddfather had his ups and downs lately and Tobin can probably do a decent job there (depth is gone but lets forget that). The production from LG will be a huge drop no matter what though.
I just can’t figure it out. Is Chip trying to win now or later?
Tobin is the LG. Gardner was RG.
very possible, but even if he starts, i can still see us adding 2 OL in the draft.. too important. not only do we need to replace starters, need to build some quality depth after last year
what old defenders do we have? Meco is on the bench, Kiko/kendricks both rookie contracts…our entire DL is on a rookie contract except Ced…. Maxwell is the only expensive corner and he is only like 26… Jenkins is like 27, all the other safeties are puppies….Barwin is like the oldest veteran starter and he is only 3 years removed from his rookie contract… defense is young…
for f*cks sake please just get a 6th for him…. anything… a washing machine would be fine.
yeah cuz if we have the option of getting a 6th, we will just turn it down and cut him anyway…. of course chip can always put a gun to another GM’s head and demand that he give us a 6th for Evan…… Im baffled as to why people think a 34 yr old, expensive guard, who was banged up most of last year has any value in a trade?
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GMs arent dumb… if they know you will cut him, why trade for him pay a draft pick and have to honor is expensive contract?
Only reason is to avoid a bidding war
bidding war? you really think the bidding war would get to a higher price tag that he already comes with in a trade?
i dont know about that, but theoretically you are right, that would be normally the reason why you would want to trade for a player that will inevitably be cut, im just not sure it would apply in this instance……
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we had a ton invested in our OL. we were paying way too much for older players to go down with injuries all year..
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personally I dont care about the cap, and I love evan Mathis, he has been one of my fav offensive players. if he has atleast 2 years left in the Tank, i would rather start him… if they are just going to cut him anyway next year, then just get it over with now…
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personally I hope that every veteran the plan on cutting NEXT year, gets cut now…. if you can see these veterans give us two more years of quality service, then keep them and try to renegotiate.. even if you cant get a discount give him some money up front and lower the cap
You and I both know Mathis has more tread than the normal 34yo guard, he was a late bloomer…. i just dont want the DJax B.S. again.
You and I both know Mathis has more tread than the normal 34yo guard, he was a late bloomer…. i just dont want the DJax B.S. again.
So your thinking is, Chip is just sitting there doing nothing?
no i think this may go the way of DJax
Don’t you guys think chip is looking for a good to great trade for mathis like a 3rd or a player but if it’s not there he will release him to give him the opportunity to look for what’s best for him. I’m not saying it’s a great way to run a franchise business wise but the only one benefitiating from a release and not a trade for a 6th or 7th would be mathis.
i think you are severley overestimating his trade value
The only thing that kind of surprises me is chip cutting a player this late in the process… He abandoned trying to get value for Desean in a trade and cut him in time to still get a nice free agent contract.. the longer chip waits to cut mathis, the less options Mathis will have, trying to land on his feet at his next job..
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He cut Herremans in time to let him land on his feet… Chip has conducted himself with class when it comes to treating players he is getting rid of… Its kind of surprising to see us still trying to get value for Maclin when free agency started weeks ago…. This is the only things that doesnt add up to me…..
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MAYBE mathis will be back, its not like reporters are never wrong..
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everything else makes sense, but throwing Mathis out on his ass so late in the process doesnt really fit with how chip has treated the other players he got rid of
maybe chip hates Drew R.. this is his way of messing with him… Drew is pushing hard for more money more money and Chip thinks its fun to watch him work for no reason bc there is no market for Mathis… so after Drew realizes it.. the eagles say “see nothing out there drew” and Mathis does what he did last year… PLAYS..
lol… i wouldnt be mad at chip if this were the case! that scumbag still owes us for the TO situps in the driveway
I hope he stays for sure. The dude is a baller. It is really not like he is CW. CW was very serviceable (IMO!), but openly questioned the system. EM is a boss and has totally bought in.
Maybe there is something with his health.
i thought about that too… the trainers are measuring these guys performances at all time, and he started to get banged up last year… maybe trainers are starting to see a dip in his performance and are expecting him to start his decline….. i know that when decisions about older players are made, the training staff always gives their opinion of how much they think the guy has left..and chip even more so then most coaches because he is measuring everything about his players each day…. if his numbers are starting to dip, and the trainers think he is on the decline, its understandable… obviously i have no idea if that is the case, just speaking hypotheticals
going to be the most boring draft ever … taking OL players early to sure up holes… oh — if Chip was that easy to read…lol….
you couldnt read predraft last year that chip was going to target Huff and Hart? check any of my predraft archive posts, chip going after hart was a no brainer..
hopefully we can see a little HART action this year with Kiko.. get the band back together.. well duet..
please just stop.
I hope there isnt an obvious drafting for need philosophy this year. Why are we creating holes that will not be filled before the draft…idk.
Hey maybe it is what Kelly wants to do though. Sam Bradford is worth way more than the 19th pick n all.
the moves we are making dont bother me… but the way we are going about it seems like a rookie mistake(hopefully he knows better)…. to elaborate on your post I THINK the best teams, try and transition from old to young more gradually then the rip the band off approach chip is taking..
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The Best teams, they get the young replacements on the bench and they dont get rid of the veteran starter until the youngbucks grew so much that you can no longer justify keeping them on the bench… For me, that is the healthiest approach… certainly isnt the approach we are taking… However, in order to be able to do that gradual transition, you have to be able to afford it under your cap… Typically, the teams with no cap space are the ones that cut a starter and then worry about finding his replacement. We dont have much cap space right now, whether that was the right approach or wrong approach, I dont know that they can afford the healthy gradual transition….
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so going the “rip the band aid right off and find a replacement later approach” I hope, is just what we are forced to do because of our cap situation.. Hopefully Chip will go the gradual transition route in the future when our cap is healthier..
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wonder what Howie truly thinks about all this?
I mean we are not over the cap, right? We started FA with a TON of space. I know we sucked a bunch of that up. Most of it on Bradford’s deal which is in the last year, so that is free money added back next year. I just don’t get the need to make space right now.
Hopefully my knowledge of our cap space is very wrong and we really do need the space now. Then I can make sense of this. (just got back from a week out of country so I am sure I missed a lot).
hopefully someone chimes in for you… paying attention to the cap is new to me…. since I have been old enough we always had banner and howie and i knew cap would never be an issue because they rolled over so much every year. i cant remember a time where we really couldnt afford to add a player we wanted, so I stopped paying attention to the cap long ago,.,.,, but with Chip coming into power acting like “Daddy More-bucks”, probably going to have to start paying attention to the cap side of it now that Frugal howie and Banner are gone…
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i think we still have some money, but not much more then what we need to sign the draft picks… but hopefully someone who can speak on the cap better then i can, fills us in…
I always thought when there were discussions of available cap, a number was used that did not include rookie money. So essentially if we had 30 mil to start FA, that is 30 mil, not counting money designated for draft picks.
I dunno though. I have never been huge on the cap either…because I like you am not old enough to remember things like that pre Banner.
lol seems like the fans who really felt the wrath of the owner Braman are the ones that make sure they know their cap well…..i was too young to really cry over him not paying Reggie… I cant imagine having to sit thru something like that now…. I would burn novacare to the ground if we had JJ Watt and we let him go play for GB… I would assassinate Lurie
I just remember being really confused when Reggie left.
I was in my mid teens watching Gang Green being dismantled one by one. Some of it was due to injury, JB was tragic, but mostly it was a cheap FO not wanting to spend anything. After that l am now numb to losing players. When a good/ great player leaves now, I always feel we lost much better talent in the 90’s than.. Fill in the blank… Although Bdawk stung just as bad as it did in the mid 90’s. Other than that, I will root for a guy hard when he is an Eagle. But no loss sleep when he leaves. I will still root for him unless he goes to a rival.
Unless we NEED the cap space, why not cut him after this season? Is it because we might not need the money now, but might during the season for an extension?
I think you nailed it, also give them the cap to sign another free agent maybe.
Just in case the draft doesn’t go favorably for the holes we have and we need the flexibility?
From a Chip perspective, you have a 34 y.o. OL who has a big (deserved) number, who complained and tried the market last year, and now is (maybe) complaining and trying the market this year. And there is no market (at least, not for a worthwhile draft choice.) But #culture: if a guy makes a pain in the butt of himself two years running, and is too old to be with you much longer, why not cut the cord now and just clear the air? Unwilling employees (no matter how talented) are usually not worth keeping around once you’ve danced with them once. Chip’s pulled the trigger faster on others, but….
dont know if you can label mathis as “complaining”… he has every right to not be happy with his deal, as long as he goes about it the right way, and he did that. No Hold outs, no being a cancer, still tried to come back quickily from his injury to try and save our team. media tried to bait him inbto complaining and he refused to speak publically about it… cant assassinate his character when he went about this the right way.. I dont think Character or personality has anything to do with this,… i assume this is driven by age and $
one thing thats really annoying about this is we paid Ryan Mathews…. I would so much rather not have Ryan Mathews, keep mathis and draft a cheap RB in round 5…… rather then Lose mathis, need to draft a Guard, and pay good money to Ryan to be an insurance policy..
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wish i could be a fly on the wall to really hear why Ryan Mathews is here. Do we really want him and Demarco? or was chip just not willing to start his GM tenure with having a reputation of going back on an agreement with a free agent?
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I guess we will get our answer by seeing how many carries we actually give him when Marco is healthy/..
Mathews and Murray means we will have a power running game all 4 quarters.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-1vuILb3PI&feature=youtu.be
at 53″, incredible move by our D.
doesnt mean you couldnt accomplish the same thing paying a rookie 500k to come off the bench..,..
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RB and G, the two positions with the best chance of a rookie being able to handle playing right away…. Im also a big polk fan
agree
i know they are highlights but he looks nice.. stay healthy and the RB stable is real $$$TROOOOONG this year..
lol for the past week i have thought about how bored i am, hoping chip makes a move just to have something to discuss… maybe i should have specifically hoped for “GOOD” news…..hopefully we get some news soon about us signing someone, or trading for someone…and less of the type of news where we are losing someone and getting nothing in return please..
Mathis vs. an under the radar Safety, or a veteran Safety who can still play (a little) – would be a totally different ball game for me.
If you “switch” needs, from Safety to a 2nd Guard, I’m all for it. I trust Chip and the scouts way more to find a quality Guard than a quality Safety, especially later in the draft (rounds 3-5). It’s generally easier to find quality Guards than quality Safeties in the later rounds, it seems to me.
If Mathis is traded for a 5th (unlikely, of course) – fine, too. Draft a young OL with that pick and you still can draft a Safety or a WR in the 2nd, 3rd or 4th.
It’s just the for nothing or for a 7th rounder kind of stuff that’s freaking me out.
he’s going to be 34 this year and carries a $6m cap hit and had a major injury. if you were a gm why would you ever give up picks for him?
If you feel like you are a win now team who has a little bit of cap space and a whole at Guard (let’s say, because you have players like Tobin, Gardner or Barbre there…) – why wouldn’t you want to add a quality Guard like Mathis?
Mathis is old, but he didn’t start at the beginning of his career. It’s not like he started 10 seasons or anything.
Mankins was 32 when the Buccs gave up a 4th + a young TE for him. And he was a starter since his Rookie season, so for 9 years.
add yes, trade for, no.
What about Menkins and the 4th rounder + young TE?
Of course, if you are SURE he will hit the open market, you won’t trade. But that’s up to Kelly, he has to make the league believe that he will only trade Mathis and won’t cut him. Or make them believe that there are trade offers (like the Saints with Sproles) on the table and that you have to act to get him.
OT, but regarding the murray/mathews signings, how will they split the carries? I’ve seen a video of marshall faulk explaining that having to split carries between drives was really tough for a rb cause you lose your focus and your momentum and when you get back you are fresh till the point you feel cold and need time to really get back into the game at full potential. Do you guys think this is how it will work out?
both have durability issues. plus we aren’t a ground and pound team. i think both players were excited about their carries being managed, we’ll see though.
I feel like are a ground and pound team.
Realistically, one will play while the other is injured…
Ideally they won’t both be hurt at the same time.
Coach Ken Whisenhunt said if the Titans select Oregon QB Marcus Mariota at No. 2 overall, he’ll be the Week 1 starter.
“If he comes to us at No. 2, he’s definitely going to be the day 1 starter..I’m very impressed by Marcus,” Whisenhunt said Tuesday. This smells like a smokescreen, as naming a quarterback who has never played pro-style football your quarterback in March seems silly. Then again, Whisenhunt is earning a reputation as one of the duller knives in the drawer. The organization has spent much of the offseason talking up last year’s sixth-rounder Zach Mettenberger.-roto
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LOL:
When asked about Oregon QB Marcus Mariota, Jets owner Woody Johnson said Geno Smith is “probably way ahead of him at this point.”
It’s important to note that Johnson is a businessman whose football IQ is average at best. Simply put, Smith’s first two seasons were a disaster. He improved only marginally last season after finishing dead-last in passer rating as a rookie in 2013. Smith should fare better in Chan Gailey’s spread scheme, but that doesn’t mean the Jets shouldn’t be trying to address the quarterback position. We suspect Ryan Fitzpatrick would beat out Geno in a camp battle.
I think he didn’t want to say it THAT way.
https://twitter.com/MikeGarafolo/status/580383964856094720
It is a smokescreen, I am not for trading up to get Mariota but if there is only one coach that can give this guy a system in which he could start day 1 and potentially be successful and his name isn’t whisenhunt.
Frankly the only teams that I could see targeting him before us are the browns (poor franchise) the bears (feeling like the cutler extension was more of a desperate move than a real commitment) and the texans (they need a QB but I’m not sure the coach would like mariota). MM at 20 is not that unbelievable.
See, that’s the fascinating part. Mariota took like 3 snaps under center in his career. He never threw the classic NFL slant routes combinations.
I really think there are some things NFL teams clearly don’t like about MM (more than I can tell you). Wouldn’t be a problem for us, but for probably 31 other teams.
But, and that’s a big but: NFL teams are always desperate for QBs, because there aren’t even close to 32 capable QBs in the world. And Mariota, despite his flaws for many teams, may still end up to be the 2nd best or even the best QB in this class.
Still, in the last two years, QBs weren’t drafted that highly. I have a feeling the league is getting more disciplined. O’Brien started the shitty Fitzpatrick last year because he felt there wasn’t a QB worth an early draft pick in the class.
No one can doubt Mariota was a great College QB. But Geno Smith was, too. I still think that he will go early, it’s just, Bridgewater and Smith (and Barkley) all fell, they fell badly. I just don’t want to rule that kind of thing out.
For Winston, I would. Despite the off the field stuff, he played in a pro style offense and the Buccs, Titans, Redskins, Jets, Bears, Browns – there are too many teams who want to run such an offense and who would love to have Winston.
With Mariota, you’re right, I kind of see the Browns as the Franchise in front of our pick 20 who won’t care about his flaws. But on the other hand, like I said, desperate times, desperate measures.
I’m not buying Mariota falling. QBs have been overdrafted for years now, and last year was probably just an outlier. If he does fall to point where it doesn’t take 4 first rounders to get him, though, Chip should pounce. We would set the league on fire.
Favre, Rodgers, Brees, Rothlesburger. Guys fall all of the time.
Two years in a row now. Otherwise I would say outlier, too. 2x in a row could still be an outlier, but it could be a trend, also.
2013, first QBs taken at #16 and second #39.
2014, first QB taken at #3, second at #23
Now, 2014 was #3, but Bortles wasn’t a hyped QB (compared to Mariota or Winston). Bridgewater and Manziel were the hyped QBs in the Offseason and they went 23 and 32.
One could argue, btw., that 2012 was the outlier. Luck and RGIII at #1 and #2, yes, but they were QB prospects the whole league fell in love with. With Luck, rightfully so. Tannehill at #8, Weeden at #23. Wilson and Foles in the 3rd. Weeden is a bust, but generally, a great class. Experts seem to think 2015 isn’t a good class.
2011, no doubt, was QB heavy early, without delivering great QBs. Newton is the best and he’s kind of meh, certainly a starter in this league, but not even close to top 3 or top 5 imho. Other than that, Locker, Ponder, Gabbert, all busts. 2nd round was pretty good with Kapernick and Dalton (and Mallett, to some degree).
I’m not saying it is, but 2011 could have been a turning point for the NFL teams. 2012 was a great class and in ’13 and ’14, teams just didn’t fell in love with the QBs.
Two years in a row now. Otherwise I would say outlier, too. 2x in a row could still be an outlier, but it could be a trend, also.
2013, first QBs taken at #16 and second #39.
2014, first QB taken at #3, second at #23
Now, 2014 was #3, but Bortles wasn’t a hyped QB (compared to Mariota or Winston). Bridgewater and Manziel were the hyped QBs in the Offseason and they went 23 and 32.
One could argue, btw., that 2012 was the outlier. Luck and RGIII at #1 and #2, yes, but they were QB prospects the whole league fell in love with. With Luck, rightfully so. Tannehill at #8, Weeden at #23. Wilson and Foles in the 3rd. Weeden is a bust, but generally, a great class. Experts seem to think 2015 isn’t a good class.
2011, no doubt, was QB heavy early, without delivering great QBs. Newton is the best and he’s kind of meh, certainly a starter in this league, but not even close to top 3 or top 5 imho. Other than that, Locker, Ponder, Gabbert, all busts. 2nd round was pretty good with Kapernick and Dalton (and Mallett, to some degree).
I’m not saying it is, but 2011 could have been a turning point for the NFL teams. 2012 was a great class and in ’13 and ’14, teams just didn’t fell in love with the QBs.
Easy on the G word with Geno Smith. He was an ok college QB, that was great at dumping it off to Tavon Austin.
ok isn’t fair from your part. But yes, he wasn’t great, either. But in College, he was a pretty darn good QB. But Colt McCoy was, too. Tebow was a great College QB, without a doubt.
Doesn’t mean it will translate to the NFL and that’s kind of the point with Mariota. It could be the case that many teams think this way, in the end. Altough all teams who don’t love a prospect when they are in the clock will probably call Chip, lol.
ok isn’t fair from your part. But yes, he wasn’t great, either. But in College, he was a pretty darn good QB. But Colt McCoy was, too. Tebow was a great College QB, without a doubt.
Doesn’t mean it will translate to the NFL and that’s kind of the point with Mariota. It could be the case that many teams think this way, in the end. Altough all teams who don’t love a prospect when they are in the clock will probably call Chip, lol.
A source told the Philadelphia Inquirer the Raiders offered DeMarco Murray significantly more guaranteed money than the Eagles.
Murray gave the Eagles a discount so he could play in Chip Kelly’s scheme, stick it to the Cowboys twice a year and avoid the annual train wreck that is the Raiders. He probably did Oakland GM Reggie McKenzie a favor. The Raiders should be building through youth, with exciting running back Latavius Murray a major part of that.-roto
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The Philadelphia Inquirer suggests the Eagles went through with the Ryan Mathews signing because they didn’t want to renege on a handshake deal.
The Mathews signing at three years, $11M with $5M guaranteed was a bit confusing after the Eagles had already landed DeMarco Murray on a $40M deal with $18M guaranteed. Publicly, the narrative is that Chip Kelly sold them on the idea of a three-headed rushing attack that also includes Darren Sproles. But the theory here is that the Eagles didn’t want to pull a Frank Gore, backing out of a deal that was already in place.-roto
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According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, teams could be “reluctant to give up anything” for LG Evan Mathis because the Eagles may eventually release him.
Much like the DeSean Jackson situation of a year ago, teams aren’t going to give up much for a player that’s going to be cut. Regardless, Mathis’ agent Drew Rosenhaus is at the NFL Meetings this week trying to facilitate a deal. It remains surprising the run-first Eagles have neglected their offensive line this offseason, first cutting Todd Herremans and now pushing Mathis (who graded out as the second-best guard in the league in Pro Football Focus’ 2014 rankings) to the curb. The Eagles should be focusing on their line more than ever with injury-prone Sam Bradford under center.-roto
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Browns will be the Browns smh:
Dwayne Bowe’s two-year contract with the Browns is worth $12.5 million with $9 million guaranteed and a $3.5 million signing bonus.
Bowe’s 2015 base salary of $2.65 million is fully guaranteed, while $2.85 million of Bowe’s 2016 salary ($6.15 million) is also guaranteed. It’s a surprisingly aggressive contract for a wide receiver going on age 31 who many seem to believe is nearing the end of the line. Browns GM Ray Farmer clearly disagrees. Bowe should be locked in as Cleveland’s No. 1 receiver this year.
To be honest I am really happy the Eagles didn’t back out on Mathews. I hated the move, and still don’t love it. He is the Sam Bradford of running backs. Though unlike Bradford he has proven to be pretty decent when healthy.
Is Evan Mathis really that bad? I’m having trouble understanding how cutting him fits in with our win now ethos.
A little late on this one but he may see what NE did with their all pro LG (Mankins) last year. He wouldn’t take a pay cut so they shipped him to TB. Didn’t really hurt them in the end.
They got value for him. Granted, not for last year (besides the young TE), but for this year (4th rounder).
It seems pretty clear at this point what the organizational approach is to guys who are dissatisfied with their contracts: there’s the door. Best of luck. That’s the only theory that makes sense to me. DJax was let go for nothing. It wasn’t about gangs. It wasn’t about performance. It wasn’t even about the locker room. He had some contract grumblings and he’s gone. Mathis had some contract grumblings and he’ll be gone.
Chip seems like a no-nonsense guy — if you don’t want to play for us, why would I want you to play for us? And maybe Lurie et al. were burned badly enough on the T.O. thing that they have vowed “never again.” But I think it’s a dumb way to run your franchise. Eventually guys will catch on that there’s an easy way out of town if they are sick of playing here. Just ask for a contract renegotiation and you’ll be released.