Tennessee Titans interested in All-Pro Evan Mathis?
By Will Lomas
It is no secret that I have been in love with the idea of the Tennessee Titans adding All-Pro left guard to the roster. Well, according to news that came out on Friday the team might be doing just that.
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According to a article by ESPN writer Paul Kuharsky:
“A source told me the Titans are monitoring what’s going on with free-agent guard Evan Mathis, a solid player who was released by Philadelphia in June. He was unhappy with a five-year, $25.5 million deal he signed in 2012.”
Now, skeptics will say that the Tennessee Titans have already been down this road with much maligned guard (and likely soon to be free agent) Andy Levitre. However, these are two completely different players.
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Andy Levitre was injured coming in and never really healed correctly which led to his terrible play for the last two years. Now after being proclaimed healthy, he looked like the same old guard against a very mediocre defensive line in Altanta.
Evan Mathis however has been absolutely dominant in the last four years including being ranked top overall guard in 2011, 2012 and 2013 and then he was the second overall guard in 2014. That is pure dominance folks.
People will also ask, if he was so good why is he a free agent? Well first of all he wanted a bigger contract or a chance to play for a contender. Well, with most contenders content with their offensive lines he chose to sit out the majority of the offseason to prevent injuries and because frankly players hate this part of the season. However, he has reportedly had several interested teams talking to his agents, one of whom is probably the Tennessee Titans.
Secondly, it isn’t like Chip Kelly has loved paying guys on the offensive side of the ball during his tenure in Philadelphia. He has let Evan Mathis, LeSean McCoy and Jeremy Maclin all walk in some capacity. Some speculate that this is because he believes he can generate offensive play with his schemes and that he doesn’t need elite players on that side of the ball to score points.
Either way, it seems like his issue isn’t talent as much as it is not getting along with Chip Kelly, and wanting more money. With that said, why wouldn’t the Tennessee Titans be chomping at the bit to get him?
The Tennessee Titans would have $22 million in cap space for this year alone if they cut Andy Levitre. If not, they would have $20 million just sitting there.
Here is what I suggest the Titans do here:
-Offer Evan Mathis a 2 year, $12 million deal
-Include a 2nd year team option here where they can exercise it and give him $5 million guaranteed.
-In year one, offer him $7 million based on playing time with $5 million guaranteed. That will give him a $2 million pay bump this year with a chance at guaranteed money next year.
This puts a very solid protector in front of Marcus Mariota and gives you a left side with Evan Mathis and Taylor Lewan, two of the more aggressive and athletic offensive linemen in the league. Then, you let Jeremiah Poutasi and Byron Bell fight over the right tackle spot and have Fernando Velasco fight for the starting job against an injured Brian Schwenke.
This has the potential to make this team a very interesting offensive line, especially if Chance Warmack can step up and not take 10 games to get into a groove.