Random Eagles Information Still Not Worthy of a New Thread

[smeags]

so kelly will have a presser today to discuss things in his chiptopia. 

[General_Failure]

Chiptopia is his new restaurant chain, right?

[ice grillin you]

chip says they wanted to keep mathis until after they saw how the draft and free agency went....draft and free agency provided no OG's then they release mathis on june 11....basically they farged him over as much as possible

[smeags]

Culture 

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/13090018/chip-kelly-philadelphia-eagles-granted-evan-mathis-wish-release

[ice grillin you]

Evan Mathis doesn't dispute that he and his representation asked Chip Kelly for his release, but the former Eagles Pro Bowl guard didn't agree with Kelly's overall assessment of why the Eagles cut him on Friday.

Mathis, speaking to CSNPhilly.com on Tuesday, said he asked the team in March to release him if it didn't plan to rework his contract. A March release would have enabled him to find another job before the start of free agency, which could have helped Mathis attain the contract he sought.

But Mathis said he hasn't since asked to be cut and, to his knowledge, neither has his agent, Drew Rosenhaus. Kelly said Tuesday that he moved on after several requests from Mathis and his camp to be released (see story).

A source close to the situation said neither Mathis nor anyone in his camp has asked the team to release the 34-year-old guard since March.

Mathis also said he would have honored his current contract without causing disruption or making distractions.

"Yes, I would have played under the contract and been fine — like last year," said Mathis, who has asked for a restructured contract since the 2014 offseason. "I can block stuff out and not let it be a distraction. I missed voluntary stuff, but I was still working hard. It doesn't mean I was going to be a bad apple. I would never do that."

Mathis, who lives in Scottsdale, Arizona, during the offseason, said his flight to Philadelphia for mandatory minicamp, which began Tuesday, was booked in May. He sent a screenshot of his itinerary to CSNPhilly.com showing a confirmed one-way flight on Southwest Airlines, Flight No. 677, from Phoenix to Philadelphia on June 14.

Mathis added that he tried to keep his contract dispute between him and management.

"All I ever wanted to do was lay low with it and try to communicate only with the team," he said.

As for his dispute, Mathis said he was only seeking an incentive-laden restructure that would have boosted his salary to among the highest paid at his position if he reached those marks.

After playing starting 15 games with the Eagles in 2011, Mathis signed a five-year, $25.5 million extension with a $5 million signing bonus and another $1 million roster bonus in 2012.

He's made $8 million in base salaries since signing the extension — $1 million in 2012, $2 million in 2013 and $5 million last season. Combined with the $6 million he's made in bonuses, Mathis had made $14 million over the past three seasons, an average of $4.6 million per year.

In comparison, Titans guard Andy Levitre, who has never made a Pro Bowl, signed an extension in 2013 that included a $10.5 million guaranteed signing bonus. Levitre has made $19.5 million over the past two seasons, an average of almost $10 million per year.

Mathis' base salary this year would have been $5.5 million, and in 2016 boosted to $6 million, but veterans rarely see the back ends of their contracts. Mathis said he just wanted the opportunity to boost his contract to fair-market value through creative contract maneuvering.

"Why not have a couple of years where I could at least have the opportunity to achieve it?" he said. "That's what I was proposing ... that I had to be absolutely elite to earn it. One hundred percent that's all we were trying to do the last few months."

Mathis said he didn't accept a restructure offered last year by general manager Howie Roseman, who no longer heads the personnel department or has final say over the roster, because he believed the offer reflected "a starting point."

The new regime with Kelly as the franchise's top decision-maker, Mathis said, didn't acknowledge prior discussions about a reworked deal.

"A good start, maybe we could do something with it," Mathis said, characterizing the proposed restructure from Roseman. "Nobody ever said I declined this offer or we're not taking it or it's [a bad deal] or something like that."

As a free agent, Mathis is testing the waters before deciding his next employer. Several teams, he said, have shown interest.

Asked if he had regretted anything about the past few months, Mathis said he wouldn't change it.

"It's not my choice that I was cut the way I was," he said.

[smeags]

seems like kelly just wanted to spite mathis.

[SD]

I get the sense from comments from his team mates like Jason Peters that Mathis was being a distraction and that's what lead to his release. He can play the innocent role but there's obviously more to the story. It's rare when players speak out against players.

[smeags]

so why not release him sooner. take a look at the FA guards, draft an olinemen maybe ? just one ?

just better hope barbre and gardner can do something.

[MDS]

yup

peters, johnson and ertz among these saying "good riddance."

the he said/she said between mathis and chip is whatever....who knows what timeline is accurate....but his former teammates telling him to get lost says a lot.

[ice grillin you]

i could care less that mathis is gone but not a single former teammate said get lost...in fact they both said they wished he was there

i dont know what the obesseion with chip is that makes people completely invent stuff to try and defend him or try and sully mathis or shady or anyone else that he gets rid of...youd think it would be enough that hes gotten rid of all these terrible people that were dragging the team down

[SD]

Deep down I'm happy because farg Rosenhaus and his little games and boo hoo for Mathis, a guard making $6 million a year and he's in his mid 30's and he's unhappy. He was journeyman crap before he came to the Eagles.

[Eagles_Legendz]

Mathis is five times the player Barbre or whoever is, so I don't understand why something which probably means nothing to Rosenhaus is a victory compared to the Eagles losing him.

[SD]

i could care less that mathis is gone but not a single former teammate said get lost...in fact they both said they wished he was there

http://www.foxsports.com/nfl/story/eagles-lt-jason-peters-not-worried-about-playing-without-lg-evan-mathis-061115

Not exactly a ringing endorsement. He doesn't say get lost, but they ask him if he cares if Mathis is gone or stays and his response is "not really"


http://gcobb.com/2015/06/10/jason-peters-and-zach-ertz-kick-evan-mathis-to-the-curb/

Prior to that and right after the team's practice yesterday, young tight end Zach Ertz, who normally says only positives about his teammates didn't have good things to say about Mathis.

"If you go against Chip," Ertz said to a group of reporters after practice yesterday,  "I've think we seen ... if you don't buy in, we've seen what happens.  Not to say that as a threat in any way, but we want guys that love the process each and every day, whether it's June 1 or January 1 or February 6, whatever day the Super Bowl is. We need guys that are going to come in each and every day and work and I think that's what we're building right now."

You can read between the lines

[PhillyPhreak54]

I hate them releasing him and think it was stupid.

However the whole "just keep it between us and management" thing? That could have been done. The only way the press gets wind of that is if the player or agent or someone close to the agent/player releases it to the media. So that is bullshtein.

And his whole "I would have played and been fine"? Should have sucked it up for the $6M

And it comes down to he signed a nice contract and he should have stayed within those terms. Don't like it? Sure you can ask for a raise. Hell the Eagles told him to go find a team who would take him via trade and precisely zero teams were interested.

[SD]

And it comes down to he signed a nice contract and he should have stayed within those terms. Don't like it? Sure you can ask for a raise. Hell the Eagles told him to go find a team who would take him via trade and precisely zero teams were interested.

They also offered him a million per more a year, he turned it down. It's my opinion they should have left that on the table and had this whole mess swept under the rug.