What's Wrong with Evan Mathis?

When the Philadelphia Eagles released All-Pro guard Evan Mathis, everyone wanted to know what was wrong with Chip Kelly.

The Eagles' head coach might not have thought the two-time Pro Bowler was a perfect fit for the Eagles' scheme, or worth the kind of contract his credentials demand. But Mathis is the latest in a long line of outstanding Eagles Kelly thought he could do better without: DeSean Jackson, LeSean McCoy and Jeremy Maclin have all been sent packing.

When Mathis hit the open market, it seemed he might be out of work for the proverbial five minutes, but that hasn't been the case. Despite nearly every fanbase dreaming about adding a game-changing player this late in the offseason, NFL teams aren't rushing to do the same.

If any team could use Mathis, the St. Louis Rams could: Pro Football Focus graded their two primary guards, Rodger Saffold and Davin Joseph, 41st and 75th out of 78 qualifiers in 2014. PFF also ranked their line sixth-worst in pass blocking and 10th-worst in run blocking. The Rams drafted four linemen this spring, but it's hard to imagine any of them stepping in and playing at Mathis' level.

Still, Bleacher Report's Jason Cole reported the Rams have "no interest" in Mathis. Per Cole's source, they "prefer to let [their] young players grow together," which sounds like an awfully fishy reason not to sign one of the game's best players at a position of need.

So, the switch flips: What if, instead of there being something wrong with Kelly, there's something wrong with Mathis? Is he hurt? Is he just not as good as everybody thinks? Are his contact demands too high? 

The answers to the first two questions are easy. First, he's almost certainly not hurt.

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Sure, sometimes veterans hit free agency with an injury that isn't widely known. Defensive end Michael Bennett joined the Seattle Seahawks on a surprisingly cheap, short deal in 2013; it turned out he'd played the 2012 season with a torn rotator cuff.

Instead, there's no hiding it: Mathis missed seven games with an MCL sprain in 2014, but he came back to play the last eight games of the season. In three prior seasons, Mathis made 47 of 48 starts, so there aren't any chronic issues. He also missed any real offseason contact when he held out during OTAs, so any new injury is very unlikely.

Sometimes surprise physicals can scuttle a deal (see Saffold's voided deal with the Oakland Raiders last spring), but the Rams hadn't even had Mathis in for a visit.

Is he somehow worse than everyone thinks? No, that's not it either.

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Offensive line play is tricky to evaluate and highly subjective, but Mathis was PFF's No. 2-ranked guard in 2014 (despite the missed games), and No. 1 overall in 2013, 2012 and 2011. If the Pro Bowls and first-team All-Pro nod weren't enough to dispel that theory, the PFF grades ought to do it. If he's not the best guard in the NFL, he's on the shortlist.

His contract? That makes more sense, as it's the on-the-record reason for his leaving Philadelphia.

"We weren't going to come to a conclusion in terms of a contract extension," Kelly said at the time of Mathis' release, per Phil Sheridan of ESPN.com. "We weren't going to extend any contract or adjust any contract, so we granted him what his agent asked for."

Kelly, whose stated desire this offseason has been to balance cap spending between offense and defense, understandably was not eager to set the market for what's traditionally been one of the lowest-impact, lowest-priority positions on the roster.

Further, adding a premium contract at this point in the summer is hard—surely why Mathis' agent, Drew Rosenhaus, pushed for an earlier release—as team's rosters and salary caps are largely set. Indeed, the Rams have the seventh-least amount of space under the cap right now with just $6.8 million to spare, per OvertheCap.com.

This is the real reason Mathis hasn't signed anywhere: Teams aren't sure they need him yet.

Cole's report about "young players" doesn't mean the Rams seriously believe third-round pick Jamon Brown will start off as, or even become, a better player than Mathis. It means they think there's a chance they'll have a solid unit if the guys they drafted pan out—and it's not worth blowing what's left of their cap space on a premium guy they don't really need.

For that matter, Mathis needs to be selective, too.

"I think we'll be methodical," Rosenhaus told WQAM. "We won't necessarily rush into signing immediately." Rosenhaus said "half a dozen" teams were interested in Mathis, who "is one of, if not the top overall free agent right now that would be available in the NFL." As other teams with needs at guard (and more cap space) hit training camp, Mathis' market opens up—and his asking price goes up.

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Moreover, though Mathis is a late bloomer who started just 22 games in his first six seasons, he's still 33 years old. He's still had 10 seasons' worth of lifting, running, drills, camps and practices wear on him, not to mention the 56 starts since joining the Eagles in 2011. Jumping in and signing during the tail end of minicamps would just mean more wear on his body; and as a veteran guard, it's not like he needs months of offseason work to learn the offense and terminology.

Deadlines spur action, as the saying goes, and nobody's up against a deadline yet. Teams want to see what they've got in their holdovers, rookies and bargain-bin additions. None of them are working out right now, and Mathis doesn't need to be working out either. As long as he's in shape, he can skate into any camp at any point in August and be just fine.

Mathis is waiting for the right opportunity, and the right opportunity is waiting for him. He might not get the payday he would have gotten had he hit the open market in March, but he'll certainly get paid, by somebody, and be playing in September.

If the last few years are any indicator, he'll be worth every penny—and then some.