On his weekly WQAM segment today, agent Drew Rosenhaus said "at least half a dozen" teams have inquired about free agent guard Evan Mathis since the Eagles released him Thursday but he doesn't necessarily expect a quick resolution. Rosenhaus declined to name teams who are interested and wouldn't say if the Dolphins have called. "Until a player visits with a team, clubs like to keep their interest on the down low," he said. "It's wide open and there's a lot of interest in Evan," Rosenhaus added. "Between now and the start of training camp, I definitely expect him to have a new home. I think we'll be methodical. We won't necessarily rush into signing immediately.... "As far as ranking Evan's priorities, I definitely think winning is critical to him.... The contract has been an issue, so that's a factor. Fortunately, he's going to have some options." http://miamiherald.typepad.com/spor...baum-addresses-issues-um-cws-hoops-items.html
Hey, if its a one year stop-gap situation, then why not? We can sit on our 9+mil cap as a nest egg until 2016, or we can put it to work via a position of real need. Either way, we have those funds fully available when we will really need it in '16. If Mathis goes for a one year deal, it would be dumb IMO not to do it.
A one year deal is out of the question, don't even think about it. The guy from PFF just came out and said Mathis was the best guard in football last year. He is famous for his conditioning. He may want to play another four years and he may be quite able to do so. He is worth the biggest guard contract in the NFL but he won't get it because of his age. IMO, he is worth a nice 3 or 4 year deal. I think he will prove his longevity. The only glitch with the Dolphins is that they can't pay him in 2016. We could give him 7 mil this year but next year nada. He would have to get most of his money in 2017 when the Dolphins will have some flexibility. I mean really... the Dolphins are going to have to jump through hoops the way it is to keep our good players. There is less than 0 cap flexibility in 2016. As desperate as we are I doubt they will sign him. I don't think they really like the guy. Another major injury on our OL this year and it could be doomsday. Tannehill is one tough hombre but a guy can only take so much. Mathis would go a long way in providing a huge bump to OL quality and depth.
I kinda got that feeling while reading the Philly periodicals, and Kelly's comments about no takers for two years regarding his trade value. Even when LT Jason Peters was asked if he'll miss Mathis playing next to him, he replied "Not really". He followed up that blunt statement by explaining some FA mumbo jumbo that I found to be a bit BS. He could very well be the player Philbin has been purging since he got here.
Eh, we'll see, rarely is Elite talent jettisoned in the league this time of year, suspect he causes lots of problems in the locker room
I have seen zero signs of the Dolphins acting desperate when it comes to offensive guard. I honestly think they do not value the position that highly.
Man I'm telling ya if these young guards STB this year and cost us a winning season or the playoffs this FO is going to come under some horrific attacks from fans and media and I will be there with my flame thrower in hand. I am on the record again declaring this FO to be grossly negligent and just plain stupid in their handling of OL personnel acquisitions. They suck!! I just don't understand how you can have the resources these guys have and are making millions of dollars to do their jobs well, and they just piss all over themselves and stink up the whole organization.
Unfortunately and sadly, the armchair GMs have done better than our actual GMs until the last couple seasons.
http://www.nfldraftscout.com/ratings/dsprofile.php?pyid=54453&draftyear=2005&genpos=OG Just checked the combine numbers for Evan Mathis..................ludicrous! ridiculous! I checked back several years; that may be the lowest 20 yd shuttle ever run by a human weighing over 300 pounds. The vertical, the bench, just outstanding. Noone can be sure about a guys durability to last into their mid thirties but he, without a shadow of a doubt, has the athleticism to keep going into his forties.
I'm not sure it needs to be "lots of problems" to be kicked off the Eagles. Kinda feels like anyone who doesn't row with Chip and is highly paid gets jettisoned.
Scoured the net for anything that would really indicate that Mathis was a problem or a bad teammate. Found far more evidence to the contrary. Looks to me like he is just a regular guy who feels cheated by a lowball contract. I think if he gets a 3 year 23 million dollar contract he will shutup and and play some great football and be a happy,pleasant, team first guy.
This seems interesting: Link So he says there are 4 teams in the running, but the Chiefs and Colts likely won't pursue... that leaves Miami and San Francisco. Tannenballs at it again?
I don't think he can ask for that though, he's 33 it's gonna have to be structured differently, lower number
You're choosing from a former 3rd round pick (Dallas Thomas) with questionable balance who has been a bust so far, a physically talented and unproven former 3rd round pick from North Dakota State who played mainly LT in college and is being trained at OG, a 4th round pick from Arizona St. who looks pretty good so far and a couple of street free agents in Linkenbach and Brenner. There's potential there, namely in Jamil Douglas and Billy Turner, but if there ever was a case where we should suck it up and spend the money to save a position in trouble this would be it. The OG position is sketchy at best and there haven't even been any injuries as yet- we need all the help and depth that we can get at OG, and we better light a few candles that Branden Albert actually makes it back on time at LT. I'd spend the money on Evan Mathis, get one of the best Guards in football into the fold and worry about cap issues later. As John Madden said, don't worry about the horse being blind, just load the wagon. Get the blue chip talent at the need position, keep Ryan Tannehill out of traction and the emergency room this year and worry about the rest later.
His grade from last year was just ridiculous:https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2014/12/25/2015-free-agents-guards/ He isn't playing like a 33 year old. He and Cam Wake are immortal.
here is a piece on SI where they have 3 or 4 plays of Evan Mathis, where Mathis wrote was his assignment was and explaining his job on each play, cool stuff http://www.si.com/nfl/2015/06/19/evan-mathis-contract-eagles-offseason-chip-kelly
Read that piece and was going to post it. Excellent stuff. The article does note that Mathis is not quite as great as he's been made out to be from what those writers have seen; though Mathis' explanations are decent on those particular plays. Nevertheless, the PFF rankings make him out to be better than what others are seeing on video. One thing they noted is that the speed with which the Eagles run their offense helps a player like Mathis as he can get off the blocks quickly in some cases while the defender is still barely getting set. Whether his play will translate to other teams is a question.
