It's no secret that Philadelphia Eagles offensive lineman Evan Mathis is available via trade - in the wake of the draft, Eagles head coach Chip Kelly even went so far as to say outright that Mathis has been "available for trade for two years," via Dave Weinberg of PressofAC.com, but that there have simply been no offers.
What has been questioned in the wake of a plethora of pre-draft reports of Kelly's attempts to move up and acquire quarterback Marcus Mariota, is whether or not linebacker Mychal Kendricks is on the trade block as well.
According to a report from Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports, not only are both Mathis and Kendricks available, they're also likely to be dealt sometime in the near future.
"These two dudes will be dealt, I believe," La Canfora writes. "...Chip Kelly has turned the page on Mathis it seems and at some point, whether it is this week or next week or week two of the preseason, someone will give him a late-round pick for Mathis, even though he has a big contract. Some contending team will lose an offensive lineman and Mathis can still play. As for Kendricks, he is clearly the odd man out in the inside linebacker situation as Kelly was calling all around the NFL trying to pawn him off for a second-round pick in the week leading up to the draft. Of course he couldn't get that -- Kendricks is going into his contract year and that's a steep price under the circumstances -- but Kendricks has been an impact player and Kelly could get a 2016 fourth-round pick for him, I'm sure, and at this point trying to bring him back into that locker room might not make much sense."
It's not surprising that the 33-year-old Mathis is available in trade - he's set to make $5.5 million in salary and count $6.5 million against the cap for 2015 and yet, at his advanced age and major salary, still wants a new contract from the Eagles.
He's an elite guard and consistently grades out as one of the best interior linemen in the league, but it's simply impractical to think that a team will fork over a bunch of new cash and several more contract years for a player of his age.
As for Kendricks, the young playmaker had seemingly taken a big step forward the last couple of years, nabbing 106 tackles, four sacks, two forced fumbles and three interceptions in 2013 and adding 83 tackles, four sacks and three forced fumbles in 2014, but something is not right between the versatile 'backer and the Eagles brass.
He's entering the final year of his rookie deal and the Eagles have made no indication that they'd like to extend his contract. While that doesn't necessarily mean anything - they also haven't extended the contract of All Pro-caliber defensive lineman Fletcher Cox - coupled with reports prior to the draft that the team was seeking a second-round pick in return for his services makes it seem more than likely his days in midnight green are numbered.
That being said, a fourth-round pick next year seems incredibly low value for a former high second-round pick who has turned himself into an impact player.
While Kelly hasn't seemed to concern himself much with receiving commensurate value in trades thus far in his short tenure as personnel czar - see; McCoy, LeSean for reference - it makes more sense for the team to simply hold onto Kendricks this year rather than trade him at such a major loss.
