With only one game remaining on the year before the Eagles’ offseason officially begins they will forced to make big decisions. Last week I talked about; Jason Peters most likely returning, Connor Barwin getting cut and what they should do with Bennie Logan. This week I’ll break down three more decisions top personnel head, Howie Roseman and Joe Douglas will have to decide on.
Decision Four: Ryan Mathews
Ryan Mathews’ season is over and his tenure with the Eagles might be as well. Ryan Mathews has incredible talent which is the reason the San Diego Chargers used a first round pick in the Fresno State product. At this stage of Mathews’ career you should know what he is and that is a ground and pound back that thrives in the red zone. Mathews, however, hasn’t been able to stay on the field throughout his career. The last and only season Mathews played in all 16 regular season games dates back to 2013. In his last three years combined Mathews has totaled only 1,530 yards on 335 attempts. With Mathews being 29 now you just can’t count on him week in and week out to be your lead back field going forward and releasing him this offseason should be a guarantee. Cutting Mathews would not only move the team in another direction, but would also give the Eagles some salary cap relief by freeing up $4 million and only leaving $1 million in dead money next year.
Decision Five: Mychal Kendricks
When the Eagles drafted Kendricks in 2012 the ceiling was high and he became a full-time starter day one. Kendricks has however seen a decrease in playing time since his second year and it saw a drastic fall this past year. In Kendricks’ first four years in the league he averaged 828 snaps played per year and that is factoring in the nine games he has missed as well remember. This year, Kendricks was in on only 273 snaps and remember that Kendricks has not and will not be inactive one game this year. Trading or cutting Kendricks will free $1.8 million on the cap and leave $4.8 million in dead money which is something the Eagles should pursue considering Kendricks is not providing the Eagles much on the field and they could get a mid to late round draft pick in return.
Decision Six: Nelson Agholor
We all know Nelson Agholor isn’t having the best sophomore campaign this year. Agholor is currently ranked the worst receiver in the league by Pro Football Focus at 118th overall with the grade of 44.2/100. Nelson has, however, has taken the most snaps on the team at wide receiver with 877 and in second is Jordan Matthews with 845. This is the second straight year Agholor has struggled, but it is also the second year he has gone through coaching changes with two different quarterbacks. I understand the hate directed at Agholor, but I still don’t think it is time to move on. Agholor has shown slight improvement since his benching in Week 12 against the Green Bay Packers. Cutting Agholor would also account for a $4.9 million cap hit in 2017. Letting go of Agholor may seem like an easy thing to do, but looking at the numbers it would be tough. Give Agholor one more year to hopefully pick up the system thrown at him and create a bond with Carson Wentz if not you can say, “goodbye” to him in 2018.
-Sean Brennan
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