:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/30699583/20140123_kkt_st3_069.0.jpg)
The Miami Dolphins need to rebuild their offensive line, which just about anyone with any sory of football knowledge can tell you at this point. Giving up a franchise record 58 sacks last year was a pretty good indicator of where the Dolphins would be looking this offseason. To that end, Miami has signed left tackle Branden Albert and guard Shelley Smith; however, they still have more to do.
Enter this morning's report from NFL Media's Ian Rapoport.
#Eagles have made it known Pro Bowl guard Evan Mathis is available via trade, sources say. So WR DeSean Jackson is not alone on trade block
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 26, 2014
Rapoport went on to explain that Mathis is looking for a new deal from the Eagles.
The 32-year-old is scheduled to make $5.15 million this season, which, as SB Nation's Bleeding Green Nation points out, would make Mathis the seventh highest paid guard in the league. Bleeding Green Nation also points to Mathis' Pro Football Focus rankings as a reason why he could be worth the month. He was ranked by PFF as the best guard in the league - and the best overall offensive lineman - for 2013.
Entering his tenth year, Mathis is getting up in age, turning 33 during the upcoming season; however, he was selected to his first Pro Bowl and was a First Team All-Pro selection for the first time after the 2013 season.
The obvious question would be the compensation needed to get Mathis from the team. According to Philadelphia Daily News reporter Les Bowen, it was the Eagles who brought up the idea of a trade when Mathis' agent approached the Eagles about a new contract. That makes it seem like Mathis is not in the Eagles' long-term plans, as Mathis enters the final year of his current contract. Perhaps a deal with Philadelphia would not be cost-prohibitive.
Even if Mathis were a short-term solution to the Dolphins' offensive line, he could be another veteran brought in to fill the position while the younger players, like Sam Brenner or Dallas Thomas, are developed behind him. It should be at least an option the Dolphins explore.