Phire Posted July 23, 2017 Share Posted July 23, 2017 The Mathews situation has been a thorn in the Eagles' side this off-season. Being both cash strapped and having more than enough RBs to carry on without Mathews, they've been waiting for him to get healthy before cutting him. Apparently, he's still recovering from his neck surgery, so he likely won't be cut until much later in the off-season. Quote [R]ookies, quarterbacks and select vets — vets like Mathews, who are coming off seasons ended by injury — reported to NovaCare for camp Sunday and will take the field for the first time Monday, with Mathews still on the roster and likely to remain there into August, a source close to the situation said Sunday. Quote Mathews won’t be on the field Monday. He is still recovering from neck disk surgery, and his surgeon doesn’t want to revisit the matter until sometime next month, the source said. Quote But Mathews had a year remaining on his contract. Releasing him while injured would cost the team more than $1.1 million, the money coming directly off the Eagles’ meager cap space. So the decision was to wait for Mathews to pass a physical, at which point he could be released. He’ll still count $1 million in dead cap money this year, but the Eagles won’t be paying him; the only thing affected will be the cap space. If and when he passes the physical. Mathews is scheduled to make $4 million this season, and to count $5 million toward the cap, according to spotrac.com. Given the signing of LeGarrette Blount and the drafting of Donnel Pumphrey, there is virtually no chance the team will keep Mathews around, when he is declared healthy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bednarik60 Posted July 23, 2017 Share Posted July 23, 2017 He had neck surgery? I didnt realize/pay attention to that. That is terrible. Why doesn't he just take the next year off. 1.1 million in a cap hut, despite it being meager is worth it, getting some one in there with a healthy neck at least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phire Posted July 23, 2017 Author Share Posted July 23, 2017 4 minutes ago, Bednarik60 said: He had neck surgery? I didnt realize/pay attention to that. That is terrible. Why doesn't he just take the next year off. 1.1 million in a cap hut, despite it being meager is worth it, getting some one in there with a healthy neck at least. There are rumors he might not play again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danger Posted July 23, 2017 Share Posted July 23, 2017 I just don't see why we can't cut him but continue to pay him what he's owed. It's a dumb rule. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZ_Eaglesfan Posted July 24, 2017 Share Posted July 24, 2017 2 hours ago, Danger said: I just don't see why we can't cut him but continue to pay him what he's owed. It's a dumb rule. The rule makes sense in a vacuum. You don't allow teams to cut players just because they are hurt, which is important as this is their livelihood. For cases like this though, it is ridiculous as we would cut Mathews even if he wasn't injured. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bednarik60 Posted July 24, 2017 Share Posted July 24, 2017 2 hours ago, AZ_Eaglesfan said: The rule makes sense in a vacuum. You don't allow teams to cut players just because they are hurt, which is important as this is their livelihood. For cases like this though, it is ridiculous as we would cut Mathews even if he wasn't injured. Yeah but it sucks for players when you could potential give the guy a gravy deal. We would essentially be paying him 5 million to chill at home so we could save 1.1 million in cap lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phire Posted July 24, 2017 Author Share Posted July 24, 2017 NFL contracts aren't guaranteed so they negotiate for these kinds of limited protections. Yeah, annoying for the franchise, but good for the player. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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