Philadelphia Eagles NFL Trade and Roster Rumors: Ryan Mathews to Have Neck Checked Out, Likely to Be Released Soon
Running back Ryan Mathews may not be a member of the Philadelphia Eagles for long.
The Philadelphia Inquirer's Jeff McLane has reported that Mathews is in town and he's going to have his neck scanned on Monday. He will meet his doctors the next day to go over the results. If he passes the physical, the Eagles will finally get the chance to release him. The Philadelphia Daily News' Les Bowen has also reported the same thing.
Mathews injured his neck late in the 2016 season and he's been on the sidelines since then. It has been long believed that the Eagles are planning to release him once he passes his physical, and they just want to avoid paying him an injury settlement. So fans will probably see a resolution this week if he's well enough.
The Eagles can save four million dollars in cap space by cutting Mathews and they can free up a roster spot as well. However, they will only save $2.85 million if they release him with an injury settlement.
"The Eagles don't necessarily need to rush to cut Mathews at this point. There's still a few weeks before the 90-man offseason roster is cut down to the regular season 53-man limit," Brandon Lee Gowton said in his column for Bleeding Green Nation.
"If Mathews turns out to be healthy, though, the Eagles will likely cut him and save cap space that can be rolled over into next offseason if it's not used this year. The Eagles will also free up a roster spot by cutting Matthews," he added.
Mathews actually played well for the Eagles last season before he was sidelined by the injury. In 13 games, the running back had a career-high eight touchdowns and he ran for 661 yards. He should have no problem finding a new team if he's healthy.