Tyrann Mathieu will be the first to acknowledge that he's getting toward the tail end of his NFL career, but the news this week is indicative of how he views his situation: He's still got a lot to prove, and a lot left to give.
The Honey Badger dove into that subject and more when he spoke on WWL Radio this week following the news that he'd agreed to a new, 2-year deal with the Saints that will keep him in town through the 2025 season.
Listen to the full, exclusive interview with Saints safety Tyrann Mathieu in the player above. Can't see the embed? Click here.
"Obviously when you have some success in this league, and then you have beautiful kids, you get up in age, you start thinking about things like [retirement]," Mathieu said, speaking with WWL's Mike Detillier and Steve Geller. "But I think right now, man, I’m still having fun playing the game. I still love being a part of a team. I still love challenging myself and getting better, so I think, you know, right now, I’m just looking forward to suiting it up for the Saints.”
If Mathieu has lost a step, it certainly hasn't shown in his availability or counting stats. Over two seasons he's started in all 34 games, while logging 7 interceptions and 166 tackles. That average of 83 tackles would rank at the top of any two-year stretch throughout his illustrious NFL career.
That availability hasn't always been the case, however. Mathieu missed 14 games over his first four years in the NFL, and that's something he'd point to as one of the reasons the Cardinals decided to move on. As he gets older, doing the work to be consistently available is something he takes more and more pride in.
"I think as a youngster you don’t really realize your availability. It’s all about your ability. And I think as you get older, you become more conscious of your availability, because your ability is not what it used to be," Mathieu told me this week. "So just being able to show up every day, right, every game, you know, every practice, I think that’s what it’s all about. That’s what we get paid to do, and so I enjoy doing it, for me it’s not work. And then, too, for my teammates and coaches, man, I always want to be one of those guys that they know is gonna be there, that they know they’re gonna count on, so I take a lot of pride in that.”
The deal for Mathieu also appears to be mutually beneficial. The former LSU star was entering the final year of a three-year deal signed prior to the 2022 season. His new deal offers additional cap relief for the team as they tick closer and closer to cap compliance, and also gives the player some security for where he'll be for at least two seasons. Mathieu said he'd have taken a one-year deal at a discounted rate to help the team, but the ability to know he's going to stay in his hometown and potentially retire a Saints is a big deal.
Mathieu knows he has a chance to make good on a pair of "underwhelming" seasons that both finished outside the playoffs, but he also hopes to build a lasting legacy on and off the field in New Orleans.
I’m pretty sure I’ll still have some Honey Badger fans, but I’m really hoping to leave a lasting impact in the community. I hope I’m one of those guys that people remember and say, man, like, he always gave us his time. He always shared whatever he had, like, he was always willing to give it to someone less than. Like, for me, like that means a lot to me and I think I still have a lot of opportunity to kind of achieve some of those goals that really has nothing to do with football.”
