Evan Mathis contends that the Eagles previously offered to adjust his contract and later reneged, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk hears from a source with knowledge of the situation.
The Eagles, he says, offered to increase his salary by roughly $1MM per year from 2014 to 2016. Mathis declined the offer in 2014, but he was interested in accepting in 2015. The Eagles, per the source, told Mathis that the offer was no longer good. The reason? Howie Roseman, the man that made the offer, was no longer GM.
So, it now appears that Mathis’ beef with the Eagles runs deeper than simply salary. The two-time Pro Bowl guard believes that he had something promised to him that was later pulled off the table.
There was interest from teams to trade for Mathis, a source tells Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer (on Twitter). One team engaged in pre-draft talks with Philly but changed course after the first round. The Bills, Vikings, Dolphins, Rams, and Patriots are among the many teams that have been connected to Mathis in recent months. However, it’s not clear how serious things got between the Eagles and any of those clubs.
Even though he only saw time in nine games, Mathis’ overall score of 25.8 (per Pro Football Focus, subscription required) ranked him as the second-best offensive guard in the NFL in 2014. The year prior, Mathis graded out as the very best guard in the NFL. Mathis’ deal calls for him to earn a $5.5MM base with $1MM prorated in 2015, good for a total of $6.5MM. With an extra $500K in his base salary in 2016, that number jumps slightly to $7MM.