Eagles should be interested in Rishard Matthews

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Updated: 12:30 p.m.

The Eagles won’t have to worry about defending Rishard Matthews this weekend, but maybe they shouldn’t put him completely out of their minds. 

It’s a bit of a strange story. Matthews, a veteran wide receiver, basically quit the Titans and the team plans on releasing him Thursday.

This might pique the Eagles’ interest. And it should. 

Even with Alshon Jeffery set to return, the team is still lacking an outside receiver without Mike Wallace and Mack Hollins. Right now, we’re looking at either Kamar Aiken or Jordan Matthews being the other outside receiver. That’s not great. 

And while Rishard Matthews, 28, doesn’t have blazing speed, he at least makes plays downfield. At least, he has over the last couple seasons in Tennessee. He’s caught 30 passes of 20-plus yards since the start of the 2016 season. That’s as many as Mike Evans and just four fewer than DeSean Jackson and Doug Baldwin. 

He’s also averaged 13.8 yards per catch in his career, but from 2015-17, he averaged 14.9 yards per catch. That’s an element the Eagles’ offense is clearly missing. And might still miss even after Jeffery’s return. 

The other part of this is character. Not sure how the Eagles will take Matthews walking away from his current team. But they’re good at doing their homework and should be able to get a quick report about Matthews. He could probably help the offense. The Eagles should at least make a few calls. 

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