Getty Kansas City Chiefs free agent Tyrann Mathieu at training camp on July 30, 2021.
Two days ago on January 31, Tyrann Mathieu made very telling remarks about his potential future with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2022.
The defensive playmaker has made it known that he would love to return, but the implication is that he would also like to get paid one last time and the Chiefs may not be able to afford him. Let’s say he costs somewhere around the Pro Football Focus projection of three years, $46.125 million ($15.375M per year).
KC and general manager Brett Veach would have to find a way to squeeze him in, along with Orlando Brown Jr.’s massive extension (or franchise tag) and role players like Charvarius Ward and Jarran Reed among others — while only having a projected $14.277 million available in 2022.
Based on all these circumstances, Mathieu’s future is definitely uncertain at the moment. In the meantime, he did have one 2022 guarantee.
ALL the latest Chiefs news straight to your inbox! Join the Heavy on Chiefs newsletter here!
Mathieu Predicts Greatness
On February 1, the player known as the Honey Badger tweeted out a bold prediction for fans.
Next year will be my greatest year yet! I’m calling it now!!! Driven to go the distance! I will!!! I must!!! I can!!!!
“Next year will be my greatest year yet! I’m calling it now!!! Driven to go the distance! I will!!! I must!!! I can!!!!” He proclaimed.
Many retweeted Mathieu, including teammate Travis Kelce. One mention from a rival got more attention, however, after the Chiefs star responded to an “!!” quote tweet from Baltimore Ravens linebacker Patrick Queen.
All Mathieu wrote back was a purple heart and a fingers crossed emoji, but that was enough to throw fans through a loop. “Does this mean what I think it means?” One fan asked with a crying face.
@Mathieu_Era @Patrickqueen_ Dose this mean what I think it means 😢😭
Others took the bait as well, but is that all this is? Bait — so that Chiefs fans push Veach to shell out a worthy extension ahead of NFL free agency?
It wouldn’t be the first time we saw social media used tactically by athletes in the modern age and more power to Mathieu if he’s able to raise his price with all these subliminal messages. He’s a team leader and a valuable locker room presence on top of his skill as a ballplayer.
Still, it’s part of a GM’s job to ignore the noise and Veach is pretty responsible when it comes to paying a fair price. He spoke on Mathieu’s impending free agency earlier in the day.
Follow the Heavy on Chiefs Facebook page, where you can weigh in on all the latest KC-related daily content, analysis, features and more!
Veach Discusses Mathieu
Veach has yet to rule out the safety’s return and during a video press conference on February 1, he addressed some of Mathieu’s comments and the situation as a whole.
“Before the season, I had a chance to talk to Tyrann and his agent and we got to the point where we said once the season ends, we’ll be able to look at the landscape and where it’s going to be at once we get to this point in the ’22 offseason and where it’s going to be in ’23, and we’ll work through that,” he began. “I’m certain Tyrann wants to be here and play here and loves it here, and we certainly feel the same way. We love him. The offseason, I know it’s right around the corner, but it is a process. And when you work through it, the first thing we always do is you try to separate the emotion of the last game out because the reality is always different from that raw emotion after a game, especially a game like that. So, we’ll work with the coaching staff, and I know the coaching staff is hard at work with their scheme evaluations. We’ll finalize our player evaluations, and we’ll get together, and we’ll put together a plan, and usually these plans are multi-faceted, as you know.”
When the Chiefs GM was asked if there’s any truth to Mathieu’s social media quotes about leaving KC, Veach replied that he “wouldn’t say that’s necessarily true” before diving in deeper.
He continued: “Tyrann is a really passionate person and he wears his emotions on his sleeve. He speaks from the heart and that’s what he does, and I think there’s a lot of emotions. The one thing that’s clear is his genuine love and passion for this city, for this locker room and just being here. I think the one thing that just jumps off the screen when you listen to him talk is he loves playing and living in Kansas City. There are certain things that are out of his control, and at the moment, out of our control until we get more information and work through the process. I think sometimes when you have guys that are that passionate and feel so strongly about being somewhere, they’re just saying, ‘hey listen, if this is it, man, I loved it.’ I know deep down he wants to be [here] and as we’ve mentioned to him before the season, once we’re able to look at the cap and look at where we’ll be in ‘23 and down the road and other deals and other moves, like you mentioned with Orlando Brown and where we are, we’ll certainly exchange ideas and put our best foot forward. I think that Tyrann is just being his genuine self and he’s always going to speak from the heart. He’s a special person. You won’t find anyone in the building that doesn’t love him — you won’t find anyone in any building that he’s ever played with that doesn’t love him. It’s just the way he is.”
Whether Mathieu ends up returning or not, Chiefs Kingdom will always remember and appreciate his passion and intensity on the gridiron — as well as his unrivaled Twitter game off it.