PHILADELPHIA -- It doesn’t seem like anybody won the standoff between Evan Mathis and the Philadelphia Eagles.

Mathis finally landed at his next destination, signing a one-year contract with the Denver Broncos. According to ESPN’s Adam Caplan, the deal can pay as much as $4 million.

So if Mathis earns every possible penny, he will still be below the $5.5 million he was to earn from the Eagles. And that doesn’t even take into account the $6 million Mathis was scheduled to earn in 2016.

Meanwhile, the Eagles are without one of the best guards in the NFL, according to Pro Football Focus. Mathis has been one of PFF’s top guards for the past few seasons.

Since Eagles coach Chip Kelly also parted ways with right guard Todd Herremans this offseason, the Eagles will have two new starters along their offensive line. But that line has performed well through two preseason games. Allen Barbre is Mathis' replacement at left guard. The right guard job hasn’t been decided yet, but Andrew Gardner has started both preseason games and appears to be in the lead.

"Gardner’s done a good job," Eagles offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur said. "It’s too early to tell who that guy’s going to be. We’ve still got a couple games. We get a lot of reps out here (at practice). We’ve got a good little rotation there."

Shurmur and Kelly have been careful not to indicate that Gardner has an edge in the competition. It appears they are waiting to see if John Moffitt, who signed with the Eagles in June, rounds into shape and outperforms Gardner.

In the meantime, though, Gardner continues to get work in with the first team. He is developing chemistry with right tackle Lane Johnson. That gives him an advantage that makes the job much more difficult to hand over to anyone else.

The same is true for Barbre, who played in just one game last season before landing on injured reserve with a high ankle injury.

"Quietly, he’s done a really, really good job," Shurmur said. "And a little bit broader view of things is, he’s helping that left side be really, really solid. We feel good about where’s at. He’s done a really good job."

Barbre (at $1.45 million) and Gardner ($800,000) will make a combined $2.25 million this season. Mathis and Herremans were to make $10.5 million.

If Mathis had been happy with his contract and attended voluntary workouts, Kelly likely would have kept him on the roster. But once Mathis decided to stay away, he opened the door for Barbre to take his job. Once Kelly saw that he could get solid guard play for 20 percent of the cost, he released Mathis.

It is possible the Eagles will not be as good at the guard position. But it appears from Barbre and Gardner’s early work that they won’t be that much worse -- not enough to justify the $8 million extra charged to their salary cap.