Super Bowl Champion Safety Signs With New Orleans Saints

The New Orleans Saints are adding a Super Bowl champion to the roster. According to multiple reports, the Saints are signing safety Tyrann Mathieu, who spent the last three seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs. Mathieu visited the Saints before the NFL Draft, and the deal is expected to be done in the coming days. According to ESPN, Mathieu is expected to sign a three-year, $33 million deal with $18 million fully guaranteed. 

The Saints needed a safety after Malcolm Jenkins retired and Marcus Williams signed with the Baltimore Ravens. As mentioned by CBS Sports, Mathieu is expected to start at safety along with Marcus Layne, whom the team signed this offseason. 

Mathieu, 29, became a free agent after the 2021 season. In 2019, Mathieu signed a three-year contract with the Chiefs and helped the team win a Super Bowl that same year. He finished the 2019 season with 75 tackles, four interceptions, 12 passes defended and two sacks. He had two more productive seasons with the Chiefs, registering six interceptions and one defensive touchdown in 2021 and three interceptions, one sack and one defensive touchdown last year. 

Mathieu, who played college football at LSU, was selected by the Arizona Cardinals in the third round of the NFL Draft back in 2013. He was named to the All-Rookie Team after recording 68 tackles, two interceptions, one sack and nine passes defended. He made his first Pro Bowl in 2015 and was also selected to the All-Pro First Team the same year after finishing the season with 89 tackles, five interceptions, one sack and 17 passes defended. He was cut from the Cardinals in March 2018 and signed a one-year contract with the Houston Texans. In his career, Mathieu has been selected to the Pro Bowl three times, the All-Pro Team four times and is a member of the 2010s All-Decade Team. 

In an interview with the Kansas City Star, Mathieu said he was “heartbroken” that the Chiefs didn’t offer him a contract. “To be honest, if they would’ve offered me Justin Reid’s deal, obviously I would’ve tried to negotiate, but if that’s where they drew their line in the sand, I probably would’ve took it,” Mathieu said, per Sports Illustrated. “I probably would’ve took it. Agents are going to do their thing, but at the end of the day, it’s the player’s decision whether to sign it or not.”