Latest On Jordan Matthews
Eagles wide receiver Jordan Matthews was mentioned as a trade candidate before free agency opened, but since he remained on the roster even after the team signed Torrey Smith and Alshon Jeffery and drafted Mack Hollins and Shelton Gibson, those trade rumors all but disappeared. Recent developments, however, have led to renewed whispers that Matthews could be dealt.
For one, Matthews is dealing with knee tendonitis that kept him out of a good portion of spring practices, and though he is yet to miss a practice in training camp, Tim McManus of ESPN.com says that Matthews has struggled to “get right” since sustaining a bone bruise last August. Plus, the team has made no effort to engage in substantive extension talks, which, as McManus writes, is pretty telling given that executive vice president of football operations Howie Roseman has a history of re-upping homegrown players early if they have been identified as part of the team’s core. Of course, it’s difficult to properly evaluate what an extension for Matthews would look like anyway, as he has performed well to this point in his career but he is a fairly unexplosive slot receiver who profiles as a No. 3 wideout on a contending team.
Then there is the fact that Nelson Agholor, the former first-rounder who was all but written off a few months ago, excelled when filling in for Matthews during the spring, and he has carried that strong performance into training camp. Daniel Jeremiah of the NFL Network recently said, “[Agholor] has had a total rebirth. He’s in the slot. He’s going to live in the slot. He’s going to be their slot receiver. I’ll be shocked if he’s not. I don’t know what that means for [Matthews]. Agholor is a lot more dynamic.”
Marcus Johnson, who signed as a UDFA last year, has also been impressive, as has Hollins. And while it would be foolhardy to put a lot of faith in Agholor at this point, not to mention a former UDFA and mid-round draft choices who have yet to prove anything, Roseman would certainly be justified in dealing Matthews now and getting some sort of draft pick compensation in return instead of letting him walk away for nothing in 2018.
For what it’s worth, McManus says trading Matthews would be unnecessarily risky, though it looks like more of an option now then it has in some time.
Packers To Work Out TE Emanuel Byrd
- Hall of Famer and former Eagles executive Jim Gallagher died Saturday at the age of 88 (via Philly.com’s Paul Domowitch). Gallagher started working for the organization back in 1949, and he served as the Eagles’ personnel director, public relations director, director of sales and marketing, and director of alumni relations until his retirement in 1995. “Jim was one of the kindest and most remarkable men you could ever meet,’’ Eagles owner Jeff Lurie said. “His dedication to this organization went far beyond the 46 years he spent here, and his impact was far-reaching…Everyone who was fortunate enough to meet Jim knows how much he loved the Eagles, but also how much he truly cared for and invested in the lives of others. To borrow one of his famous phrases, Jim was a ‘first-round pick.”
Eagles Sign S Corey Graham
The Eagles have agreed to terms with safety Corey Graham on a one-year contract, the team announced. 
Graham has been on the market since being released by the Bills back in March. He initially joined the team on a four-year, $16MM deal in 2014 and even though he restructured his pact in 2015, he wasn’t allowed to finish out the deal.
Graham didn’t fit into the Bills’ plans, but he has shown that he is still productive. The veteran didn’t miss a game during his three years in Buffalo, and he started 16 games in each of the past two seasons. Last year, he turned in another solid campaign, compiling 62 tackles, one sack, and nine passes defended.
Graham won’t start in Philly, but he can offer veteran support for starters Rodney McLeod and Malcolm Jenkins. He can also be expected to contribute on special teams.
The veteran has history with defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz thanks to their time together in 2014.
Eagles Cut Randall Goforth
- The Eagles cut cornerback Randall Goforth after reaching an injury settlement. Goforth, a rookie UDFA from UCLA, suffered a season-ending ACL tear last week.
Eagles Notes: Matthews, Revis, Flowers
The latest from Philly:
- Although wide receiver Jordan Matthews is entering the final season of his rookie deal, the Eagles haven’t made any progress towards an extension with the former second-round pick, according to Les Bowen of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Matthews was reportedly dealing with knee tendinitis and didn’t practice much during the spring, but some in the Eagles organization believe Mathews sulking about his contract, per Bowen. Last week, Matthews was fully cleared to participate in training camp, tweets Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer, and declined to elaborate on the status of his knee. However, he did tell Tim McManus of ESPN.com that he would “literally never” sit out due to contract concerns. Entering his age-25 campaign, Matthews is scheduled to earn $1.095MM for the upcoming season.
- Eliot Shorr-Parks of NJ.com ran down ten cornerbacks that the Eagles could trade or sign for. The list includes Darrelle Revis, even though the former shutdown corner has clearly lost a step or three. Although Revis was bad in 2016, he wasn’t quite as bad as the Eagles’ cornerbacks in the writer’s estimation. Revis gave up three touchdowns last year, which was still less than Eagles No. 1 cornerback Leodis McKelvin‘s seven surrendered TDs. Brandon Flowers, Sam Shields, and Leon Hall are among the other veteran possibilities highlighted.
- Wide receiver Marcus Johnson is a legit contender for the Eagles‘ roster now that he is healthy, David Murphy of the Philadelphia Daily News writes. Johnson, 23 on Saturday, joined the team as an undrafted free agent last year but did not have a chance to see live action thanks to a quad injury he suffered in camp. His arrow is now trending upwards as he looks to fill a spot behind receivers Alshon Jeffery, Torrey Smith, Jordan Matthews, Nelson Agholor, and rookie Mack Hollins.
Dallas Robinson contributed to this post.
Minor NFL Transactions: 7/31/17
A roundup of today’s minor transactions:
- The Cardinals signed cornerback Jarell Carter and waived/injured linebacker Alani Fua (knee) and cornerback Ronald Zamort (knee). Zamort appeared to be ahead of Brandon Williams on the Cardinals’ depth chart at the time of his season-ending ACL tear.
- The Bengals waived kicker Jonathan Brown, which means the team’s kicking competition is down to Jake Elliott and Randy Bullock. To fill his roster spot, the Bengals signed safety Cedric Thompson.
- The Colts claimed former Denver tight end Henry Krieger-Coble on waivers. To make room, the Colts waived tight end Colin Jeter.
- The Eagles signed cornerback Tay Glover-Wright to a one-year contract, per a club announcement. Glover-Wright is an undrafted free agent with Utah State with just two games of NFL experience on his resume.
- Wide receiver K.J. Maye, who played in college at Minnesota, has been signed to the Patriots‘ 90-man roster.
- The 49ers announced that they’ve claimed wide receiver Tim Patrick off waivers from Baltimore and waived/injured fellow wideout B.J. Johnson.
- The Chiefs have signed free agent wide receivers Corey Washington and Rob Wheelwright, and waived wide receiver Antwan Goodley and tight end Emanuel Byrd.
- The Saints have signed former South Carolina linebacker Jonathan Walton, tweets Nick Underhill of the Advocate.
Randall Goforth Suffers Season-Ending ACL Tear
- Eagles rookie CB Randall Goforth has suffered a season-ending ACL tear, per Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer (via Twitter). Goforth, a UDFA from UCLA, had a real chance for playing time given Philadelphia’s shaky cornerback situation.
Eagles’ Mychal Kendricks Requested Trade
The Eagles have been reportedly been shopping linebacker Mychal Kendricks for several years, and Kendricks himself asked to be traded or released in January, as Kendricks told reporters, including Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link).
Kendricks isn’t expected to see a larger role on defense in 2017, and therefore hasn’t dismissed the possibility that he could still dealt, per Zach Berman on the Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter links). However, Eagles head coach Doug Pederson said March that he expected Kendricks to remain on Philadelphia’s roster for the upcoming campaign. When asked if he would have agreed to an extension had he known his playing time would subsequently be reduced, Kendricks indicated he’d “plead the fifth,” per Berman.
Philadelphia had placed Kendricks on the trade block as far back as the 2015 draft, but the club was reportedly actively shopping him this offseason. The Eagles were looking for a fifth-round pick in exchange for Kendricks, but no team was willing to meet that ask after $4.35MM of Kendricks’ $4.85MM 2017 base salary became fully guaranteed earlier this year. Kendricks, 26, is signed through the 2019 campaign thanks to an extension inked in August 2015.
A full-time starter during his first four seasons with the Eagles, Kendricks was largely relegated to a reserve role in 2016, as he played on only a quarter of Philadelphia’s defensive snaps. In that span, he racked up 28 tackles and fumble recovery, and earned positive marks for his run defense and pass rushing ability from Pro Football Focus. Kendricks’ coverage grade of 47.7, however, was lacking.
Eagles Trade G Allen Barbre To Broncos
The Eagles aren’t cutting Allen Barbre after all. Upon learning that the Eagles were planning to release the veteran guard, the Broncos reached out to the Eagles to work out a trade. A deal has been agreed upon, with Philly sending Barbre to Denver in exchange for a 2019 conditional draft pick (Twitter link via Ian Rapoport of NFL.com). It’s a conditional seventh-rounder, tweets Mike Klis of 9News.
The Broncos already made one major upgrade on the interior line this offseason by signing former Cowboy Ronald Leary. Barbre could now compete with Max Garcia for the other starting guard spot or potentially push Menelik Watson at right tackle. Alternatively, he could be the Broncos’ super sub, filling in where needed at four different positions.
In Barbre, Denver gets a player with 76 appearances and 36 starts on his resume. The 33-year-old has started all 28 of his appearances dating back to 2015, including 12 last season, when he ranked an excellent 16th among Pro Football Focus’ 73 qualified guards. Barbre will earn $2.05MM this year and will have a chance at another $300K in playing time incentives, according to Klis (Twitter link).
The cap implications did not change for the Eagles when they flipped from releasing Barbre outright to trading him. After the deal, the Eagles will still save $2.1MM in cap space while leaving $500K on the books in dead money.
Eagles Release Marcus Smith
The Eagles have released former first-round defensive end Marcus Smith, according to a team announcement. Meanwhile, linebacker Steven Daniels has been inked to a three-year deal. 
[RELATED: Eagles Cut LG Allen Barbre]
The Eagles declined Smith‘s fifth-year option for 2018 earlier this offseason, fueling speculation that he might not make the roster this year. By cutting Smith now, the Eagles have ostensibly given him a better chance to hook on elsewhere. The team also avoided paying out a $594K roster bonus on the third day of camp. By waiving Smith, the Eagles will clear roughly $1.5MM in cap space.
Smith, a Louisville product, hasn’t started in any of his 37 professional appearances and he has just four career sacks to his name. The 25-year-old is coming off his first 16-game season, but he mustered only 12 tackles and 2.5 sacks in his 268 defensive snaps. He was contributor on special teams, playing over 40% of the unit’s snaps, but that wasn’t enough to justify his salary.
The Eagles claimed Daniels off waivers from the rival Redskins in May only to waive him in early June. Nearly two months later, he has circled back to the Eagles. Nigel Bradham, Jordan Hicks, and Mychal Kendricks project as the starting linebackers for Philly with Kamu Grugier-Hill, Najee Goode, Joe Walker, Alex McCalister, fifth-round pick Nate Gerry, and Daniels among those pushing for reserve jobs.