Former Cardinals versatile safety Tyrann Mathieu is the newest free agent to hit the open market. Should the Titans pursue him?
The Tennessee Titans have had a big start to free agency. GM Jon Robinson assured the cornerback position with the addition of Malcolm Butler and found the perfect complement to Derrick Henry in Dion Lewis. Also, the Titans re-signed Josh Kline to a four-year deal worth around $26M and DaQuan Jones to a three-year, $21M contract. J-Rob was dishing out a lot of money yesterday. With all of these moves taking place, would it be safe to pursue another high-profile free agent? It was reported earlier yesterday that the Arizona Cardinals informed Tyrann Mathieu of his release from the team.
Breaking: The Cardinals will cut safety Tyrann Mathieu. Mathieu declined to take a pay cut, and Arizona is moving on. (First reported by Fox Sports, confirmed by ESPN) pic.twitter.com/HX0FXwUPRL
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 14, 2018
Starting with roughly $60M in cap space to start free agency, the Titans have already spent nearly $25M of that total. Signing Mathieu could put the Titans into a scary cap position. Their main goal should be making sure that they can extend Taylor Lewan and Marcus Mariota next off-season. However, the addition of Mathieu could take the Titans’ defense to a whole new level. A secondary consisting of Kevin Byard, Adoree’ Jackson, Malcom Butler, Logan Ryan, and Tyrann Mathieu would be frightening for opposing quarterbacks.
Last year, strong safety Johnathan Cyprien played below average, often missing open tackles and struggling in pass coverage. He could still play a hybrid linebacker/safety role for the Titans, but Mathieu could fill in as the starting strong safety opposite Byard. Mathieu’s versatility and big playmaking ability is something the Titans would love to have. On paper, this would put Tennessee’s secondary into elite status, something they haven’t had in a very long time.
Mathieu is a player that every NFL team will be bidding for, and he will likely get a huge contract. The ‘Honey Badger’ would be a great addition, but would ultimately cost too much for J-Rob to pull the trigger. The Titans will most likely be conservative and make more under-the-radar moves the rest of free agency. We’ll see the how the Tyrann Mathieu sweepstakes pans out.