Chip really did it: Mathis released

IT WAS EARLY afternoon in Arizona. Evan Mathis was heading into a workout when his phone buzzed; Chip Kelly was calling.

"We're going to release you so you can see if you can get what you want," is how Mathis recalls his message.

This, the Eagles' two-time Pro Bowl left guard was not expecting, he said. He said he'd made flight arrangements to attend next week's mandatory minicamp, after sitting out optional OTAs. But clearly, Kelly didn't want to go through the awkwardness of reintegrating Mathis into a group that has been working out together for several weeks. They had moved on, while Mathis was dramatizing his plight out in Arizona, and yesterday they made that official.

"Are you sure that's what you want?" Mathis said he asked Kelly, but Mathis said he didn't really hear the answer, as his mind spun through various free-agent scenarios.

"He was cordial and said nice things," Mathis recalled.

The Eagles said there would be no statement from Kelly, and noted that he is scheduled to speak next Tuesday, before minicamp.

Over the past few weeks, Kelly and offensive-line coach Jeff Stoutland made it clear that they hadn't talked to Mathis lately and were not planning to plead for his return. Asked this week if he expected Mathis for minicamp, Kelly said he didn't know, and Kelly gave the impression he didn't care.

Mathis has been unhappy with his contract the past two offseasons, but last year, after agent Drew Rosenhaus was given permission to seek a trade and couldn't get one, Mathis put his disappointment aside and didn't make the contract an issue once he reported for camp. Maybe he thought that could happen again, or maybe he thought some team somewhere eventually would get into a pinch at guard and make the trade that had eluded Rosenhaus the past two springs.

It isn't clear whether Kelly knew Mathis planned to show up next week. It is clear, in the wake of the departures of DeSean Jackson, LeSean McCoy, Jeremy Maclin, Trent Cole, Todd Herremans and now Mathis, that when Kelly is ready to move on, he moves on, whether he's getting value for the talent he's letting leave, or not. We can probably surmise that Kelly saw Mathis as a distraction next week and going forward, whether or not Mathis reported .

Mathis, who turns 34 in November, was going to be the oldest projected starting offensive lineman in the NFL. He is a favorite of the fan-staffed Pro Football Focus site. PFF tweeted after the release that Mathis was its top-graded guard from 2011-13, second-best last season, when he missed seven games with a knee injury.

Mathis was scheduled to make $5.5 million this season and $6 million next season under the terms of a contract he signed in 2012. Mathis felt after making the Pro Bowl that he deserved a little more. Last year, the Eagles eventually offered Mathis an extra $1 million this year and next. He did not take the offer; whether Mathis turned it down or asked to revisit the matter after the season is a matter of dispute. In any event, after Kelly took over personnel control from former general manager Howie Roseman in January, the extra money was no longer available.

Presumably, Allen Barbre and Matt Tobin are now the starting guards, a huge vote of confidence in a couple of former reserves, for the only team in the NFL that did not draft an offensive lineman this year or last year.

Barbre, who turns 31 June 22, has started only eight games since entering the NFL in 2007. Tobin, 25, struggled in seven starts for the Eagles last season. He made the team as an undrafted free agent from Iowa, in 2013.

The first hint that the Eagles' rift with Mathis might be permanent came when reporters noticed at OTAs that Barbre was playing the left side. Earlier he had been penciled in as Herremans' right-guard replacement. You would think coaches would want him spending the spring in the spot he was going to play. Turns out he probably was.

The Eagles no longer have the league's oldest offensive line, but it's hard to say whether they still have a really good offensive line. They certainly lack experienced depth.

It's unclear how vigorous the market for Mathis might be, given his age, but a team with salary-cap room that fancies itself a contender might see him as a big short-term upgrade. A source close to the situation said there was movement toward a deal somewhere last night.

Rosenhaus and Mathis had to know leaving was a strong possibility when Mathis sat out the optional OTAs, so one would think they have an idea of where he can go to get the kind of money he was scheduled to make here. Miami, where Rosenhaus is based, and where Mathis played in seven games in 2008, is one much-discussed possible destination.

Earlier this week, teammates, including seven-time Pro Bowl left tackle Jason Peters, expressed indifference over whether Mathis would return to the team. Peters noted that the Eagles "have a group of guys out there putting in work who have been here since April."

Last night, safety and leader of the secondary Malcolm Jenkins said on SiriusXM NFL Radio that "everybody figured it would happen at some point in time, if he didn't want to be here."

"We loved Evan, but right now, we're worried about the guys who want to be here, the guys that are in the locker room that are here every day, grinding," Jenkins continued. Mathis is the only Eagle who has missed more than a day of OTAs. "We, for the last couple months, have had probably 99 percent of our team here, in Philly, getting after it. That's exciting. I can understand not wanting a distraction of somebody who may or may not want to be here."

Mathis, whose quirky humor on social media endeared him to some fans and estranged him from others, tweeted: "Thanks for the memories, Philly."

Blog: ph.ly/Eagletarian