Perhaps Rob might get his wish, after all. Earlier in the week he suggested the Green Bay Packers go after free agent receiver Jordan Matthews. That such a signing could perhaps give Aaron Rodgers his best receiving corps since the heady days of Greg Jennings, Jordy Nelson, Donald Driver, James Jones, etc.
Well, maybe the Packers were listening. They had Matthews in for a visit on Thursday.
Former Bills’ and Eagles’ WR Jordan Matthews visited today with the Green Bay Packers, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 22, 2018
Matthews is an interesting guy. After three seasons with the Eagles, he was dealt to the Bills prior to the 2017 season. The deal was Matthews and a third-round pick for cornerback Ronald Darby. That looks like a pretty decent deal for Philly. They only got eight games from Darby because of injury, but he picked off three passes, had 34 tackles and defended nine passes in that limited action.
Ironically, Matthews had a similar fate with the Bills. He managed 10 games, caught 25 for 282 and a touchdown before a knee injury ended his season.
Not stellar production in Buffalo for Matthews. However, he was pretty solid with the Eagles. Starting from his rookie year, Matthews had 872, 997 and 804 yards receiving. So maybe think about if he played with Aaron Rodgers and not Tyrod Taylor, the rookie version of Carson Wentz, Sam Bradford and Mark Sanchez, or Nick Foles and Mark Sanchez.
Matthews has speed (4.46 40), height (6’3″) and some bulk (212). Compare that with Jennings, who was 6’0″, 198 and ran a 4.42 40. Matthews is similarly fast, but bigger.
The question is about injuries. Matthews underwent thumb surgery last October. He returned from that and was put on IR in December with what was apparently a lingering knee injury.
So is the guy’s body going to fall apart at some point soon? The Packers’ doctors will have to decide that. We imagine that was a big part of the organization’s visit with Matthews. The good news is, we are clearly in the second wave of free agency, where you can have guys with potential upside for cheap.
And hey, in this case, maybe the Packers’ front office can actually employ their low-balling, come-play-with-Aaron-Rodgers strategy effectively.