Roseman Praises Matthews’ Professionalism After Trade

By: Jesse Larch, Sports Talk Philly Staff

The Eagles traded Jordan Matthews and a 2018 third round pick to the Buffalo Bills in exchange for cornerback Ronald Darby on Friday afternoon. Following the trade Howie Roseman met with the media to discuss the move in detail.

"You worry about everything when trade a professional like Jordan Matthews," said Roseman. "Whatever he does as a player, he's a better person."

Roseman emphasized that trading Jordan Matthews was not something that the team had intended on doing. "It wasn't that he wasn't in the long term plans for us…we were not shopping Jordan Matthews," said Roseman.

Roseman was asked about the preceding rumors regarding Matthews's future with the team, to which he said that the team had not been in any discussions until the rumors started, at which point teams began calling the Eagles about their slot receiver to find out more. 

Roseman believes that the return makes the Eagles stronger at cornerback, which was something Roseman was looking to do. Of Darby, Roseman said the third year corner has "rare speed" and noted his ability to break up passes consistently. 

Roseman also took the time to mention how Mack Hollins development during training camp and other additions at receiver makes the trade a little bit easier to pull off. "Last year at this time it [the trade] would have been hard to do," said Roseman. 

Roseman appeared to want to make sure he was not trading a player in a contract year for another player in a contract year. Darby has two years remaining on his rookie contract. 

Although affordability played a factor, Roseman insisted that there was never an issue between the Eagles and Jordan Matthews's price point, saying that it never came down to a gap in negotiations.

Eagles' quarterback Carson Wentz said goodbye to Carson Wentz on twitter following the news of his favorite target being traded:

Crazy part of this business. @jmattjmattjmatt you'll always be my boy both on & off the field. Couldn't ask for a better teammate & friend.

— Carson Wentz (@cj_wentz) August 11, 2017