2016 NFL Trade Rumors: Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers Competing To Get Ryan Mathews?

Apr 18, 2016 12:23 PM EDT

With the 2016 NFL Draft only a couple of days away, a lot of new rumors are starting to emerge regarding the league's players. And, it seems one of the athletes that could be affected by this year's draft is Ryan Mathews, the current running back for the Philadelphia Eagles.

According to reports, although Mathews is a pretty decent RB, it sees the Eagles is looking to upgrade its roster by drafting a new one next week. Various teams have already expressed their interest in getting Carson Wentz, Jared Goff and Paxton Lynch. But for the Eagles, it seems the team is eyeing to secure Ezekiel Elliott from the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Of course, if the Eagles manage to snatch away Elliott, this could open up a surplus in its running back line. This means the team could decide to trade away Mathews. Also, if the Philadelphia team does decide on doing this, then it would not be the first time that it decided to let go of Mathews.

As reported by Bleeding Green Nation, the Eagles offered a trade for one of its running backs during the offseason. It was initially supposed to be Mathews but the team ended up trading DeMarco Murray to the Tennessee Titans instead.

But, if the Eagles does proceed with a trade deal for Mathews, it seems it will have to negotiate the terms with either the Dallas Cowboys or the San Francisco 49ers. This is according to Tony Pauline of Walter Football.

"I'm told if the Philadelphia Eagles select running back Ezekiel Elliott with the draft's eight pick, the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers are two teams interested in Ryan Mathews, the Eagles' present starter," he said.

"Insiders I spoke with think it's unlikely Mathews is dealt with a divisional rival such as Dallas and question if they would trade him to a team now led by their former head coach," he added.

The "former head coach" that Pauline was talking about is Chip Kelly of the San Francisco 49ers. Before ending up in San Francisco, he coached the Eagles from 2013 to 2015. Aside from having a history with Mathews playing style, Kelly was also with the team when it decided to sign the athlete after he left the San Diego Chargers.

For now, however, these are only speculations and it's not yet clear if the Eagles will really trade away Mathews if they get Elliott.