Tyrann Mathieu, S, Arizona Cardinals
No other player in the entire NFL played more snaps than Tyrann Mathieu in the 2017 season. Despite suffering from two torn ACLs in the past, the Honey Badger managed to stay healthy and still be a force for the backend of the Arizona Cardinals defense. But with Mathieu guaranteed $19 million over the next two years on March 14th, the Cardinals front office is faced with a decision to make if he is worth that price tag. With Buddha Baker on the rise, one of the more exciting up-and-comers just a couple seasons ago suddenly finds himself potentially on the trade block.
Mathieu is coming off a 78 tackle season where he only intercepted two passes and forced a fumble. While it may not be his best statistical season, he was able to play through all 16 games for the first time in his career. Mathieu is only 25 years old, so he has yet to even scratch the surface of his potential.
What could complicate this for the Tennessee Titans is the large sum of money they’ve committed to underwhelming safety Johnathan Cyprien, who the team signed over from Jacksonville last off-season. With that in mind, if Robinson decided to try and acquire the skilled safety, one can only imagine the sky-high ceiling of a secondary consisting of Mathieu roaming underneath with Kevin Byard playing the center field position on the backend. Throw in Adoree’ Jackson and Logan Ryan on the outside, and that unit can instantly elevate this entire defense to another level.
There’s little doubt that Robinson is working the phones and gauging teams’ interest about particular players. Let’s see if he’ll pull the trigger on one.
Potential Compensation for Arizona: Second round and a mid/late round pick.