Tyrann Mathieu’s Contract With The New Orleans Saints Resembles Justin Reid’s

Safety Tyrann Mathieu signed with the New Orleans Saints. But apparently it wasn’t because his former team, Kansas City Chiefs, lacked the money or cap space to re-sign their defensive leader.

According to Adam Schefter, Mathieu signed a three-year, $33 million contract. That deal is very similar to what the Chiefs ended up paying Mathieu’s replacement, Justin Reid.

Reid’s contract has a slightly lower overall total ($31.5 million) over the same duration (three years) but slightly more guaranteed money ($20 million versus Mathieu’s $18 million).

Mathieu had made it known how much he enjoyed his time in Kansas City, even tearing up when talking about his future, following the loss in the AFC Championship Game.

“I’m hoping it works out,” Mathieu said. “It’s been a blessing.”

After the playoffs Chiefs general manager Brett Veach also noted how much Mathieu wanted to stay in Kansas City.

“I’m certain Tyrann wants to be here,” Veach said. “The one thing that’s clear is his genuine love and passion for this city, for this locker room and just being here. I think the one thing that just jumps off the screen when you listen to him talk is he loves playing and living in Kansas City.”

In an exclusive interview with The Kansas City Star a couple of months later, Mathieu said he was “heartbroken” the Chiefs did not re-sign him and that he would’ve accepted a deal similar to Reid’s, which, of course, he did with New Orleans.

Perhaps the Chiefs chose Reid over Mathieu, his former Houston Texans teammate in 2018, because they wanted to go younger. Mathieu turns 30 later this month, which will make him five years older than Reid.

Another possibility is that Mathieu’s play was beginning to slip just a bit.

Going by his accolades and numbers, such a suggestion may seem implausible. Mathieu earned his second straight Pro Bowl berth, and the ball-hawking defensive back had three interceptions and three fumble recoveries in 2021.

The defensive leader even won the Derrick Thomas MVP Award, which goes to the person the Chiefs players and coaches deem as the most valuable.

During Kansas City’s early-season slide in 2021, however, when it fell to 3-4, it seemed like he was making fewer plays.

He also battled knee soreness last season. And while Mathieu has been incredibly durable for the Chiefs, starting every regular-season game his first two years except when the team rested its stars in the final game of 2020 with its playoff seed locked up, he has had reconstructive surgery on both of his knees.

Whatever the reason, Mathieu, the New Orleans native and former LSU star back, does get to return home, though it’s for less than the three-year, $42 million deal he signed during his previous free-agent deal with the Chiefs in March of 2019.

In addition to replacing Mathieu with Reid, the Chiefs also just traded for one of Reid’s former teammates, cornerback Lonnie Johnson Jr., to further bolster their secondary.

They acquired Johnson Jr. from the Texans for a conditional seventh-round choice in 2024.

That trade occurred just days after the Chiefs drafted safety Bryan Cook out of Cincinnati in the second round.

The 6-1, 210-pound Cook is a hard-hitting safety who has been described as a “heat-seeking missile.”

“I played based on the physicality,” he said. “Being the heat-seeking missile, if you will, definitely helps me out.”

Cook originally was a cornerback at Howard for two years before transferring to Cincinnati.

“A guy like that who is a bigger guy that can actually line up and play over a slot, play over a tight end, and can also play deep,” Chiefs assistant general manager Mike Borgonzi said, “that was something that was appealing to us and our defense.”

Those appealing traits sure sound like those of the versatile Mathieu who often lined up as a nickel cornerback and even played linebacker.

And the Chiefs are wagering that Cook and Reid duplicate those skills.