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Veteran Pro Bowl guard Evan Mathis recently gave Broncos reporter Mike Klis an e-mail interview detailing several interesting items — including some incendiary comments about former Eagles head coach Chip Kelly. But one interesting detail was the lack of mention of the Kansas City Chiefs when it came to his free agency.
Mathis ends up giving Klis a complete breakdown of his 2015 season, from asking for his release from the Eagles to winning the Super Bowl with the Denver Broncos. He then discloses all teams that expressed an interest at some point. The first list comes early in the summer:
June 15th: Rosenhaus sends me a list of the teams that expressed interest in me: Falcons, Dolphins, Vikings, Patriots, Giants, Jets, 49ers, Seahawks, Titans, Redskins. Of that list, I was most excited about Patriots and Seahawks.
Then comes the next team, the actual team that signed him:
2nd week of August: Broncos reach out to Rosenhaus and jump in the mix with an offer.
Another team checks in late in training camp:
August 21st: Colts inquire about what it would take to sign me.
Never once does it say the Kansas City Chiefs checked in.
Perhaps this is only interesting to me, and I have to believe the Chiefs felt they were stocked along the offensive line with both veterans and younger players to develop. But Mathis would be one of the few players with both a proven ability to play at a Pro Bowl level who could also immediately slot himself into Andy Reid's offense. It seems a perfect match. Then again, the cupboard was full at the wrong time for the Chiefs.
At this point, Dorsey had already swapped a fifth round pick for another former Pro Bowl left guard in Ben Grubbs. Jeff Allen was readily available for right guard. Even Paul Fanaika was there to help at the bookends. Given the presence of versatile players like Mitch Morse, Laurent Duvernay-Tardif and Zach Fulton, Dorsey and Reid likely felt they'd already done the work of building the offensive line.
Unfortunately that's not the way it worked out. And looking back, a phone call from the Chiefs to check in on Mathis might have made a nice addition in the end.