In his first public comments since the release of Evan Mathis, Philadelphia Eagles coach Chip Kelly said the Pro Bowl guard and his representation asked for a release on multiple occasions.
“We were asked by his agent for a release on multiple occasions,” Kelly said per the Philadelphia Inquirer. “We weren’t coming to a conclusion in terms of a contract extension – we weren’t going to extend any contract or adjust any contract, so we granted what his agent asked for.”
In an interview with CSNPhilly.com’s Geoff Mosher, Mathis didn’t exactly agree with Kelly’s summation of the situation.
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.
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 had been with the Eagles since 2011 and his five-year, $25 million deal was set to expire after the 2016 season. Mathis, who earned back-to-back Pro Bowl nods, also asked the team to restructure his contract last offseason. Nonetheless, he told Mosher he had a flight booked to report for mandatory mini camp Tuesday and play the 2015 season under the current contract.
“Yes, I would have played under the contract and been fine — like last year,” Mathis told CSN Philly. “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 made a combined $14 million over the last three seasons, said he hoped the Eagles would agree to a restructured deal with incentives for reaching certain milestones.
From CSNPhilly.com:
As for his dispute, Mathis said he was seeking only an incentive-laden restructure that would have boosted his salary to among the highest paid at his position if he reached those marks.
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.”
Now a free agent, the 34-year-old Mathis said several teams have expressed interest in his services.
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