The Arizona Cardinals have asked safety Tyrann Mathieu to take a pay cut yesterday. Many teams around the league expect Mathieu to be released from the Cardinals and enter free agency, ESPN’s Jordan Raanan reported.
Mathieu has voiced his discontent with Arizona,”There’s many ways you could restructure a contract instead of just taking money out of my pocket,” he said. “Taking money out of my pocket, I don’t like how that feels.”
It’s appearing quite evident that Tyrann Mathieu and rizona’s front office are on bad terms. Arizona could get out of a handful of payments they owe if they separate from Mathieu altogether.
It’s also quite evident that the 25-year-old safety cares about the money. Considerable money is the one incentive John Dorsey and the Browns would be able to offer the Pro-Bowler. The Browns possess over $100 million in cap space and could easily create a lucrative deal bringing Mathieu to The Land.
So, just how would the 5’9″ safety out of LSU fit in Cleveland?
Really well.
It’s no secret that the Browns secondary, as a unit, greatly suffered last season. If Cleveland is able to bring in a young, productive safety, it could be considered as the signing of the year for the Browns. Mathieu has been nothing short of productive over two seasons in the NFL:
To the delight of many Browns fans, defensive coordinator Gregg Williams announced that Jabrill Peppers will play his sophomore season as a strong safety after playing his entire rookie year out of position. Bringing in a very versatile Mathieu would give Williams an option at free safety and allow Peppers to comfortably develop closer to the line of scrimmage.
Actually, the versatility of Mathieu runs deeper than the safety position. According to Pro Football Focus, during his rookie, 2016 season, he played 68% of possessions as a slot cornerback! A corner? That’s something the Browns have needed since the 1-31 era began, even with the trade for CB, Damarious Randall. If the Browns were to sign Mathieu, it would be really interesting to watch how Gregg Williams would position him.
If he actually is released from the Arizona Cardinals, suiting Tyrann Mathieu in brown and orange should be a no-brainer.
Photo: USA Today
Twitter: @NickPedone12
RSS