All-Pro safety Tyrann Mathieu has been slow-playing the free-agent market after three seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs, but there is reason to believe that a reunion is not off the table.
Mathieu spoke recently about being “heartbroken” over the split with the Chiefs following Kansas City’s deal with Justin Reid. He said would have taken the same deal as Reid but was never offered at the start of free agency this year.
Chiefs GM Brett Veach answered questions from the media on Friday before next week’s NFL draft and addressed the situation with Mathieu. He didn’t rule out the possibility of a return with Mathieu still available in free agency.
“I think anything’s on the table,” Veach said. “And I think that goes for how we operate at all levels. I mean, he’s a player that we know we love. And if there’s a situation that, you know, makes sense for him, you know, it’s all about him. Now, certainly, we wouldn’t close the door to that because of the way we feel about him.”
One of the reasons that a deal didn’t happen with Mathieu in the first place is money. It’s possible that he’ll command more money from other teams over the next few weeks, especially after the draft when general managers can fairly assess their rosters before training camp.
“We certainly had broad concept discussions with Tyrann (Mathieu) prior to the last season,” Veach explained. “And, you know, when you have those kinds of broad concept discussions, to the kid’s credit, and to his defense, those are usually geared toward team-friendly deals, and what would make sense for us, and certainly, we had a lot of hurdles with the contracts and the players on our team. So when we approached him, our expectation was that this was a long shot for us.”
The Chiefs didn’t feel like they could get a contract done with Mathieu based on those early conversations. However, as money dries up in the free-agent market, perhaps a return would be an amicable solution for both sides.
“But you know, we’ll see if we can get something done, but I totally understand his position and where he was,” Veach said. “And then you go into the season, and you know, the player and the organization knows that, once it gets into that next phase of evaluation, and then the process of having guys under contract and then holding a franchise tied with Orlando Brown, it becomes tricky. And you have to be able to pivot and shift quickly. And we did that. But you know, certainly can’t say enough about Tyrann (Mathieu) and how we feel about him. I think he’s a guy that knows what he wants, and he’s going to be selected. I’m sure he has some choices out there. But he’s, you know, certainly is an accomplished player. And he’s done a lot of things in this in this league. So I don’t think that he’s in a rush to make a decision. I think he has choices. And, you know, I think I’m not surprised just because when you’ve done the things that he’s done, and you won Super Bowls and been the Pro Bowls, I don’t think, you know, there’s a need to rush and take all the information in and spend time with your family and let the decision come to you as opposed to forcing a decision.”
The passion and production shown in Mathieu’s three seasons haven’t gone unnoticed by Veach and the franchise, but the likelihood of a reunion would be miraculous considering payroll and how things have played out so far. Chiefs fans are realistic regarding free agency, and the balancing act that Veach and his staff have to do when building a team. A player of Mathieu’s caliber returning on a lower-priced deal still seems to be wishful thinking.
