It appears as though Tyrann Mathieu will be playing elsewhere when the 2022 NFL season begins.
Following the Kansas City Chiefs’ overtime loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC Championship Game, Mathieu was asked if he wanted to return to Kansas City. Mathieu said he wanted to then. But when BJ Kissel of the KC Sports Network tweeted the video of those comments and expressed his support for Mathieu, the Kansas City safety responded in a way to indicate that he’d likely played his final game for the Chiefs.
Will you always remember you & many more good people! Lot to be proud of over the past 3 years. I’m thankful and grateful. I leave with a grateful heart having got the chance to play for all you good people! Thanks 🙏🏼
— Tyrann Mathieu (@Mathieu_Era) January 31, 2022
Mathieu is set to be an unrestricted free agent and was unable to reach a long-term deal with the Chiefs before the 2021 season when he had a cap hit of just under $20 million.
While applying the franchise tag to Mathieu is an option, KMBC reported that “the team is likely to use at least one of their two tags on tackle Orlando Brown.” Paying an offensive tackle top of the market money will make paying Mathieu all the more difficult, particularly for a team that has more than 17% of its 2022 cap devoted to quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
If Mathieu does leave, it will be a big loss for the Chiefs. His first year with the Chiefs was their Super Bowl championship season of 2019. He earned Second-Team All-Pro honors that year, First-Team All-Pro honors in 2020, and earned a spot in the Pro Bowl for the 2021 season. Over the last three seasons, Mathieu intercepted 13 passes and added another during the 2020-21 postseason.
