The Honey Badger is headed home.
All-Pro safety Tyrann Mathieu is expected to finalize a deal with the New Orleans Saints in the coming days, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
By waiting to finalize the deal after Monday’s 4 p.m. deadline means the Kansas City Chiefs will not receive a compensatory pick in next year’s draft.
Mathieu was linked to the Saints earlier in free agency and again on Sunday after the draft when ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported the team was making “an aggressive push”
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Per Rapoport, Mathieu had met with the Eagles over Zoom but the Saints were always the leader in the clubhouse for the New Orleans native.
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Mathieu, who turns 30 this month, will essentially fill the void left by Malcolm Jenkins, who announced his retirement in the offseason.
He will join a deep Saints secondary that consists of fellow new additions Marcus Maye and former Chiefs teammate Daniel Sorensen as well as mainstays Marshon Lattimore, P.J. Williams, Chauncey Gardner-Johnson and Paulson Adebo, all four of whom had three interceptions each last season.
Mathieu, whose versatility can allow the Saints to find multiple uses for him, is coming off of his third Pro Bowl season in which he also had three interceptions as well as six passes defensed, three fumble recoveries, 76 tackles and a sack.
He also brings Super Bowl pedigree, too, being a crucial part of the Chiefs defense that won Super Bowl LIV in the 2019 season.
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