Eagles take old contract offer to Evan Mathis off table
The Eagles offered Evan Mathis a restructured contract in Sept. 2014 that could have increased his yearly salary $1 million, but he declined the new deal that was full of incentives, and now the team has taken the offer off the table, NFL sources said.
The original offer came when Howie Roseman was general manager. It also came before the 2014 season when Mathis missed seven games with a knee injury, but returned and was still voted into his second straight Pro Bowl.
Chip Kelly was given full authority over personnel this offseason and the explanation given to Mathis, according to sources close to the situation, was that the previous offer was from the old regime.
There's also the matter of Mathis' age. He will be 34 in November and is projected to be the oldest starting offensive lineman in the NFL. But Mathis has also been arguably the Eagles' most consistent blocker over the last four seasons and the increase in the original offer was 75 percent incentives.
Mathis has missed all of spring voluntary workouts, and risks getting fined around $70,000 should he skip next week's three-day mandatory minicamp. Kelly was asked on Tuesday if Mathis had expressed to the Eagles his interest for a new deal.
"We're not going to discuss any players' contracts," Kelly said. "We never have, never will."
Kelly said that he hasn't spoken to Mathis this offseason. Asked how he would proceed if Mathis continued to miss time, Kelly said, "We'll just take it as it comes."
Mathis is believed to want performance-based incentives in his contract that would allow him to become one of the top five-paid guards in the league. He is currently around the 12th or 13th highest-paid guard.
Mathis' agent, Drew Rosenhaus, had been given permission by the Eagles to shop his client over the last two offseasons. Kelly said during the draft that the team never received an offer. There were interested parties, including one team that engaged in pre-draft talks, NFL sources said. But the team changed its plans after the first round.
The Eagles did little this offseason to address their offensive line needs. They have been practicing with Allen Barbre at Mathis' left guard spot and have been rotating Matt Tobin, Andrew Gardner and Dennis Kelly at right guard.
There has been speculation that the Eagles could just release Mathis, although neither side would seem to benefit. The Eagles don't have an alternative on the roster as good and Mathis may not be able to get a better deal – he's slated to earn $5.5 million this year and $6 million next year -- on the open market.
Most of his teammates have stayed out of the contract dispute, but left tackle Jason Peters was asked Tuesday if he would miss playing alongside Mathis?
"Not really," Peters said. "I've been playing beside different guys every year. So it don't really matter who beside me, I just need to get the chemistry with them."