Pro Bowl left guard Evan Mathis has a few years left on his five-year, $25.5 million contract with the Philadelphia Eagles. This week though, he received a check from those very same Eagles for the grand total of zero dollars and zero cents.
He promptly posted a picture of the check to Instagram with the caption, “Hell yeah, just got my signing bonus.” So what’s the deal?
Well, it’s not his signing bonus. From Eagles spokesman Derek Boyko in an email to For The Win:
Each player received a letter that accompanied the check. It explained that based on the agreement between the NFL and the NFLPA, their performance-based pay from the 2013 season is scheduled to be paid in April of 2016. Employers were required to withhold certain taxes in advance. Those taxes were broken down on a check stub that accompanied each check. Every player that earned performance-based pay in 2013 in the entire NFL was subject to this agreement.
There you have it. Sounds like Mathis has some money coming in 2016. Accounting FTW!
