Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly: 'Evan Mathis wanted to be released'

Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly has revealed that the club were only adhering to the wishes of Evan Mathis when they released him last week.

The 33-year-old was cut by the Eagles after his attempts to attain a new contract were rejected by Kelly, while the NFC East outfit were unable to trade the offensive lineman.

"We weren't going to change his contract so we granted that. If he didn't want to be here, I wanted him to get whatever he can get. I hope it works out for him," Kelly told reporters.

"He was great for us in the two years that we had him. I like Evan a lot. If he wants to get released to see what he can get better then we released him. I'm not going to hold guys out."

Mathis has been linked with the Denver Broncos and the Miami Dolphins since his release.