Evan Mathis Released by Eagles: Latest Details, Comments, Reaction

The Philadelphia Eagles released guard Evan Mathis, marking a disappointing end to a four-year run that saw him become one of the best guards in football. The team announced the news on Friday.

Ian Rapoport of NFL Network initially reported the news. The 33-year-old came to Philadelphia in 2011 after bouncing around to three teams in his first six seasons. As a full-time starter for the first time in his career, Mathis emerged as one of the NFL's elite. He made the Pro Bowl each of the last two seasons, even in a 2014 campaign that saw him play only nine games.

"We were asked by Evan Mathis' agent multiple times for a release. We weren't going to change his contract so we granted that," Eagles head coach Chip Kelly said on June 16, according to Eagles Insider. Kelly said that the team waited as long as they could to release the lineman, in the hopes of finding a trade partner, according to Eliot Shorr-Parks of NJ Advanced Media.

Kelly said he liked Mathis a lot, and hoped he got what he wanted as a free agent, per Shorr-Parks.

"We obviously are down a good football player. We’ll see what happens at the other position," Kelly continued, according to Les Bowen of the Philadelphia Daily News. 

However, Mathis denied that he wanted to leave the Eagles, according to Shorr-Parks:

"

Although Mathis declined to offer formal comment, the former Eagles guard informed NJ Advance Media that he did everything he could to remain in Philadelphia.

Mathis went as far as to bypass both his agent and top personnel executive Ed Marynowitz, reaching out to Kelly personally in an attempt to make things work.

It was at that point Mathis was informed by Kelly that the head coach did not handle contracts and giving him a new deal was out of his control, despite the fact the head coach has been given complete control of the entire personnel department.

As for the claim by Kelly that Mathis continued to want to be released even up to last week, the guard said that was not true, and that he had every intent on coming to both the mandatory mini-camp (which started Tuesday) and training camp even without a new deal.

"

Sam Monson of Pro Football Focus noted his thoughts on Mathis, and Jimmy Kempski of the Philly Voice highlighted the repercussions of the move:  

Shorr-Parks noted what releasing Mathis means for the Eagles financially:

Adam Caplan of ESPN noted that releasing Mathis won't change the Eagles plans: 

While it's surprising Philadelphia released him outright, the writing for Mathis' departure has been on the wall for a while. The Eagles floated his name in trade talks constantly before the draft but were unable to find a suitable offer. Mathis compounded the bad blood by not showing up to organized team activities for the second straight year, drawing the ire of some teammates, including tight end Zach Ertz, per Phil Sheridan of ESPN.com:

"

If he doesn't show up and says it's all about money, it's going to be—the writing is on the wall in that sense. How can you say it's all about money and then miss out on 60Gs when you get fined? I mean, it is what it is. We're not focused on Evan Mathis being here or not being here right now, we're focused on getting better as a team and individually right now.

"

Mathis should have no shortage of suitors on the open market. He's old in NFL years, but his body is relatively healthy after multiple seasons as a backup.

Given the success he's had since arriving in Philly, some team is going to find a bargain on the open market.

Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter.