Could Jordan Matthews, Philadelphia Eagles reunite in free agency?
The Philadelphia Eagles are flying high after their Super Bowl win, but who will they target in free agency? Is a reunion with Jordan Matthews possible?
Despite the fact that the Buffalo Bills made the playoffs for the first time in two decades, the 2017 season can’t be considered a resounding success for wide receiver Jordan Matthews, who was traded to the Bills from Philadelphia for Ronald Darby.
Matthews caught just 25 passes for 282 yards and one touchdown in his lone season with the Buffalo Bills, but Buffalo’s passing attack was nothing great as a whole.
While Matthews was struggling on the field in Buffalo, his former teammates with the Eagles were pretty consistently the best team in the NFL all season, all the way through the Super Bowl.
Part of the Eagles’ success this season is the way they were able to construct the roster with a lot of team-friendly contracts. One of those team-friendly contracts was a three-year deal signed by wide receiver Torrey Smith at around $5 million per season.
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Because of the Eagles’ current cap situation, that contract of Smith’s is going to likely lead to him playing elsewhere in 2018 and beyond, and while the Eagles have young Mack Hollins waiting in the wings, it would be fun for them to be able to bring back Matthews at a reduced price if possible.
If the price was right, a reunion between the two parties would make sense. Matthews was loved in the Eagles’ locker room, and would be more of a consistent number two type of receiver than Smith.
Alshon Jeffery was re-signed to a big money contract by the Eagles, and with a lot of money tied up elsewhere, it would be awesome to see Matthews return to Philadelphia where he was very successful before, catching 225 passes with 19 touchdowns in three seasons.
Getting Matthews at a discounted rate might seem unrealistic given his time with the team proved what kind of player he can be in an effective passing attack, but swapping Smith out and bringing Matthews back in, if they can afford it, would be a very nice move for the Super Bowl champs.