The Eagles started spring workouts on Monday, but three Eagles were notably absent: Evan Mathis, Mychal Kendricks, and Chris Polk.
For the last two offseasons, Evan Mathis has made it clear that he wants a new contract. Each time, the Eagles have allowed Mathis' agent, Drew Rosenhaus, permission to seek a trade. While they were unable to work out a deal last year, speculation is growing that Mathis will be traded during the upcoming draft. When asked if he expected Mathis back with the Eagles to start 2015, Chip Kelly replied "I hope so."
Mathis is 33 years old and coming off a season in which he missed seven games due to injury. However, he returned to his old self quickly, and made his second consecutive pro bowl. While Mathis likely has at least one to two good years left in the tank, it is fair to wonder if the Eagles will get a good return on investment considering his age.
If the Eagles do not get a good enough offer, it is unlikely that they will cut Mathis given his talent and their lack of a suitable replacement. Keep an eye on the draft. If the Eagles can draft a replacement in the early rounds, it might pave the way for a trade.
For his part, Mathis handled his absent as only he could, telling reporters:
Mathis: "I'm in Antarctica looking for frozen dinosaurs to extract their DNA and splice them with my chihuahuasaur." pic.twitter.com/5viF9YOWl9
— Jeff McLane (@Jeff_McLane) April 20, 2015
While Mathis' absence was somewhat expected, Kendricks absence was anything but. According to Jeff McLane, Kendricks absence was due to a previously planned trip to Costa Rica.
The timing of this trip seems dubious at best. His absence comes on the heels of increased speculation that Kendricks could be traded this offseason.
While Kendricks is considered one of the best young defensive players on a team bereft of defensive talent, he is in the final year of his rookie contract. And with the Eagles signing DeMeco Ryans to an extension and trading for Kiko Alonso, Kendricks could be the odd man out.
It is unclear exactly why Kelly would want to trade a young linebacker with pro bowl potential, especially given that Ryans is coming off his second achilles tear in his career. Nevertheless, some have speculated that Kendricks could be traded because he does not fit Kelly's preferred size at the middle linebacker position.
Unless the Eagles can get a good return for Kendricks, Kelly could come under even more intense scrutiny after an offseason of already questionable moves. It says here that you should not trade away a potentially budding franchise player simply because he is vertically challenged, especially if said height issues have not prevented him from becoming a successful player.
Chris Polk is technically not a member of the Eagles roster as he has yet to sign his free agent tender. Polk, a restricted free agent, could look at the Eagles depth chart — with newly acquired running backs DeMarco Murray and Ryan Mathews to go along with Darren Sproles — and figure he lacks a realistic shot of contributing to the team in a meaningful fashion. I couldn't blame him for that.
The problem for Polk is that he cannot sign with another team unless they better the Eagles qualifying offer. That seems unlikely given his limited production and injury history. Polk's best bet is to continue to be a no show in the hopes that another running back needy team misses out on prospects during the draft or suffers an injury in camp. Maybe then he will see a market for his services arise.
