Former Kansas City Chiefs safety Tyrann Mathieu has been spending a lot of time in Louisiana as of late, taking in LSU Tigers practice as an observer and addressing the team as a guest speaker. While back where he spent his college days, the top free agent safety met up with WAFB’s Jacques Doucet for an interview to talk about his own career, his expectations for free agency, and the state of his alma mater’s football team.
During that conversation, Mathieu mentioned how he would feel about coming home and playing for the New Orleans Saints:
“They have a great program with Mama Benson, Dennis Allen, and all of those people over there. It’d be great to represent my state, my city, and the team I grew up watching. Even a couple of my guys that I love to hang out with, they play for the Saints now so you know it wouldn’t be a bad situation.”
The retirement of Malcolm Jenkins certainly opens up a clear spot for Mathieu in the Saints’ secondary. Many Saints fans and even players have been campaigning for it to happen. Doucet also mentioned that C.J. Gardner-Johnson has been tweeting at Mathieu to come to New Orleans, to which Mathieu has been receptive.
“That’s one of my guys. I could imagine that secondary with me and him in it. You know, probably first of all, it would be the shortest secondary in the league. But, it’ll probably be the most feisty one too. So, I mean, it would definitely give the fans in New Orleans a treat every Sunday.”
So there’s a fit for Mathieu and some interest from his side. But are the Saints considering him? And would they be willing to pay what he’s seeking? New Orleans does have a staggering $21.2 million in available salary cap space right now, but they may be unwilling to pay two top free agent safeties in the same offseason after signing Marcus Maye earlier this spring. We’ll see if anything develops here.
