Chip Kelly has proved to his players that he is a good coach that wants everyone to buy into his system and his team first mantra. He has proved that he can be an offensive genius at times and a bit hard-headed at other times. But he is also proving something else.
Kelly may be familiar with the game of football on the field but he is clueless with how it works in the front office.
All-Pro guard Evan Mathis was released recently based on a long-standing contract dispute that resulted in him skipping out on OTAs. Mathis has voiced his displeasure for his current contract for the last two years and he has every right to be. He has consistently been ranked as the best or second best offensive guard in the NFL for the past three seasons and has definitely outplayed the worth of his contract. He was selected to two straight Pro Bowls and even debuted on the NFL’s Top 100 players selected by his peers.
But Mathis signed the initial deal himself so no one felt sorry for him.
Evan Mathis’s release occurred just as new information regarded his contract negotiations were released through the press as well. Apparently, former Eagles General Manager and current Eagles VP, Howie Roseman offered a $1 million per year increase to his contract last year and Mathis denied the offer. However, now that Chip Kelly has all the personnel decision-making power, he has taken that offer off of the table and Mathis was not pleased because he could have realized that offer was the only increase he was going to be offered and wanted to take it. Mathis had made it clear that he wanted to be paid like a top five offensive guard, which is understandable considering he was playing at a high level on a bargain contract.
But here is the thing about being a GM that Chip Kelly needs to learn and that Howie Roseman knew so well.
Contract disputes are a part of the business. Players ask for pay increases and teams ask players to take pay cuts on a regular basis. The idea of having a GM separate from the coach is so that contract issues do not spill all over the field and contaminate team chemistry and on the field play. The key to solving these issues are to either deny the requests of players or agree to a moderate increase in pay that works for the player and the team. Releasing players that have contract disputes sets a very bad precedent around the league even though the goal is to get rid of the guys that aren’t buying in.
When a player is signed to a deal that they do not agree with, especially over a span of multiple years, the team has all the leverage in negotiations and should feel no pressure to negotiate a new deal at all. In this case, Howie Roseman’s deal was a sign of good faith and understanding from the organization to Evan Mathis while trying to accommodate him when he didn’t even have to listen.
With Chip Kelly, no contract that is multiple years from its end is being re-negotiated, especially when it comes to decreasing the amount of money Chip can use to sign other players. However, instead of continuing on with OTAs and allowing Mathis to rack up fines for missing other required appearances, Chip released him. This shows the league that any player that is unhappy on the Eagles is not worth trading for because they are going to be released if (and when) no trade partner can be found. The same occurred in the case of DeSean Jackson. The team could not find a trading partner willing to take on Jackson’s high cap number even though his talent was unquestioned. Jackson’s release caused GM’s around the league to not only scratch their heads, but high-five each other as well.
“Why trade for a guy on the Eagles and give them some of our assets when they are just going to release the guy anyway?!” said every General Manager in the NFL.
Not that I wish any hardship on Chip Kelly in the future, but teams may suddenly become unwilling to trade with the Eagles (initially, at least) because they want to see if he will simply release the player he wants to get rid of.
This decision has to have Jeffrey Lurie shaking his head and wondering what in the world Chip is thinking. To believe in a system is not a crime at all but, on the NFL level, players are what make systems work not the other way around. Evan Mathis was no doubt, a huge reason for why the Eagles had so much success running the ball in the past 3-4 years.
Guaranteeing $21 million to DeMarco Murray and then releasing your All-Pro offensive lineman in the same offseason isn’t considered a smart decision these days. It’s against conventional NFL wisdom to release a player under contract when you have all the leverage in the situation. It’s almost against common sense but, then again, this is Chip Kelly we are talking about. Should we really be surprised?
Oh, and just for the record, the Eagles o-line is in big trouble.
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