The Eagles finally made a move to get a wide receiver and no it is not Dez Bryant or Corey Coleman. The team announced on Wednesday that they signed Jordan Matthews and placed veteran Mike Wallace on injured reserve.
Wallace suffered a fractured fibula against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 2, leaving the Eagles only with three healthy wide receivers on the 53-man roster.
Wide receiver DeAndre Carter, who was a preseason standout and played in the first two regular season games, was waived by the team on Tuesday to make room for the promotion of running back Josh Adams from the practice squad.
With the return of Matthews, the Eagles will now have someone who is familiar with the offense and can hopefully help quarterback Carson Wentz in his 2018 season debut on Sunday.
Matthews was originally drafted by the Eagles in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft and had a solid start to his NFL career. As a rookie, Matthews had 67 receptions (103 targets) for 872 yards and eight touchdowns. He then followed that up with an even better sophomore campaign, racking up 85 receptions (126 targets) for 997 yards and eight touchdowns.
In both the 2015 and 2016 seasons, Matthews was the Eagles No.1 wide receiver and became a favorite target of Wentz.
Speaking of Wentz, the young signal-caller leaned on the 6-foot-3, 215-pound wide receiver in his rookie season for 73 receptions (117 targets) for 804 yards and three touchdowns. Even though his numbers were good, it was considered a down-year for Matthews, who could’ve been better if not for nagging injuries and drops.
Unfortunately, the Eagles traded Matthews to the Buffalo Bills last offseason for cornerback Ronald Darby as the team upgraded the wide receiver unit with the signings of Alshon Jeffery and Torrey Smith.
In Buffalo, Matthews struggled as he could not stay healthy and only ended playing in 10 games.
This offseason, the New England Patriots signed Matthews but released him with an injury settlement, after he injured his hamstring in the preseason.
Now the hope is that the injuries are behind Matthews and he can give the Eagles some well-needed production to go along with his teammate Nelson Agholor.
Agholor has played well throughout the first two games of the season, but he will need some help. This is where Matthews can step in, being that security blanket for Wentz and hopefully creating a couple big plays on Sunday.
