Nick Piccone
If there’s one Eagles player that had a lot of expectations heading into last season and didn’t live up to them, whether it be to himself, the team, or the fans, it’d be Mychal Kendricks. And he realizes that – so much so that he wasn’t happy in the way he was utilized, causing him to request a trade or release from the Birds after the 2016 season.
Mychal Kendricks said he asked the #Eagles to release or trade him in Jan.
— Jeff McLane (@Jeff_McLane) July 28, 2017
Kendricks said last time he spoke to #Eagles FO was around time there was option to cut him w/o cap ramifications in March. Opted to keep. https://t.co/heXyXl6SIp
— Jeff McLane (@Jeff_McLane) July 28, 2017
I don’t necesaarily blame Kendricks for making the request. He didn’t seem happy last season with his playing time or the way he was used. When the Eagles reportedly tried to trade him during the NFL Combine period, they didn’t find anything suitable in return. Which makes this quote from Kendricks on Thursday a little curious.
The latest attempt by the Eagles to move on from Kendricks came during this past offseason, when the team tried to find a suitor for the linebacker during the NFL Combine and during the NFL Draft.
Despite his name circling around in the media, Kendricks said nobody from the team tried to reassure him that either it wasn’t true or talk to him about their plans with him.
“Nope,” Kendricks said. “I didn’t talk to anybody.”
He didn’t talk to anyone then, but today says he wanted the Birds to trade or release him in January, then last spoke to the front office when there was the option to cut him without salary cap consequences in March.
Kendricks hasn’t been a distraction regarding his wishes, and it wouldn’t make sense for the Eagles to cut him. It’d cost them $5.95 million in dead cap money to do so.
But, they’d only incur a dead cap hit of $1.6 million if they were to trade him this season. It’s something to keep an eye on. Kendricks’ current contract runs through 2019.
You can follow Nick Piccone on Twitter (@nickpiccone) and e-mail him at [email protected]. Subscribe to his podcast on iTunes here and listen live on WildfireRadio.com every Friday at 6pm. Click here to read his pro wrestling articles on PhillyVoice. Follow Philly Influencer on Twitter (@PHL_Influencer), Facebook and Instagram.