Eagles Nearly Traded Evan Mathis During Draft, But Made No Serious Effort To Move Him Since Then

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, citing a source with knowledge of the situation, reports that the Eagles nearly traded veteran G Evan Mathis during the draft.

However, Florio mentions that it’s unclear whether or not Philadelphia made him available as part of a package to trade up for Oregon QB Marcus Mariota.

Since then, the Eagles reportedly did not make any serious efforts to find a trade partner for Mathis, who was released on Thursday.

Florio writes that it would have made sense for the Eagles to get something in return for Mathis by finding a team who was willing to part with something in return for the Pro Bowl guard, even if it wound up being just a low-round pick.

Now that Mathis is a free agent, speculative options are being mentioned as potential landing spots for the former Eagle. The list includes: the Seahawks, Patriots, Dolphins, Vikings, and Bills. Although, it really wouldn’t come as much of a surprise if more teams were added to this list.

Mathis, 33, had another two years remaining on his five-year, $25 million contract that included $7 million guaranteed.

He would have made $5.5 million in 2015 and another $6 million in 2016. However, it’s unlikely that he’ll secure a comparable deal on the open market at this point in the NFL offseason.

Last year, Mathis appeared in nine games for the Eagles after he dealt with an MCL injury. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 2 guard out of 78 qualifying players.