He was one of the best players in college football when he derailed his LSU career with drugs, but Tyrann Mathieu has been a model citizen and fine example of a player getting his head on straight in the NFL. Tuesday he cashed in.
The Honey Badger and the Arizona Cardinals agreed on a five-year contract extension that will pay Mathieu $62.5 million and $40 million guaranteed. It’s the biggest contract ever signed by a safety in the NFL. And it should be, since Mathieu is not your typical safety.
First, Tyrann Mathieu gets $15.5 million signing bonus, with no requirement to pass a physical.
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) August 3, 2016
In the Cardinals’ defense Mathieu pretty much plays a hybrid of every position on the defense. He plays corner in the slot, he plays close the line like an inside linebacker and he blitzes and pass rushes like an outside linebacker. Last year Mathieu had 89 tackles, one sack, one forced fumble, five interceptions and one defensive touchdown.
The Cards were without Mathieu in the playoffs and it showed. He tore his ACL and missed the last two games of the season and it showed. Their defense consistently gave up big plays including consecutive Hail Mary passes to the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Divisional Playoffs. The Cardinals won the game in overtime thanks to Larry Fitzgerald remembering he’s the greatest playoff wide receiver in the history of the NFL.
.@Mathieu_Era's first career INT?
In NOLA. In the SuperDome. In the end zone against Drew Brees. 😲 https://t.co/orp1cMlqM3
— NFL (@NFL) August 2, 2016
Last year Mathieu actually played 62.3 percent of his snaps at corner and according to Pro Football Focus, was the top-ranked corner in the NFL when he played that position.
Mason not at Rams camp, no one knows where he is
Two seasons ago Tre Mason looked like he would be the new (then) St. Louis Rams star running back. Now, two years later, he looks like he could be heading to a mental institution. The Rams haven’t heard from Mason in months and he’s a no-show at this year’s training camp, though he’s still officially on the roster.
https://twitter.com/LeadingNFL/status/760196699839197184
Mason’s tumultuous offseason began back in March when he was arrested and tasered in Hollywood, Fla. after cops stopped him on suspicion of possessing marijuana and failure to register a motor vehicle. He resisted arrest, was tased, and then charged with that too.
It was just the first nutso incident for Mason apparently. According to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s office, they were called out Mason’s house on July 23 (the fifth time in the previous four months) because his family feared he’d gone crazy. According to the report Mason threatened to call the White House when the cops pulled up, then started talking about Al Qaeda. Mason had torn up his house a little, punched a hole in the wall and had a gash in his arm he wouldn’t let any medical professional look at.
“I haven’t personally spoken with Tre since the season ended,” Fisher told reporters. “I tried numerous times to reach him. Tre has made a decision not to communicate with us, not to talk. Not talking to his teammates. Right now we’re more concerned about Tre Mason’s well-being than we are his football career.”
But still, that career is likely over, at least with Los Angeles. In 2014 Mason started nine games, rushed 179 times for 755 yards and four touchdowns, adding 16 receptions for 148 yards and one touchdown.
Falcons sign Freeney
The Falcons are doing everything they can to address their pass rush problems and Tuesday, they made sure those fixes would stick. The Falcons signed defensive end/outside linebacker Dwight Freeney to a one-year deal.
Freeney sat out at the beginning of last year so he could play for a contender and it worked out pretty well. He played 11 regular season and two playoff games for the Arizona Cardinals and recorded nine sacks, three forced fumbles and one fumble recovery.
Dwight Freeney's one-year contract with the #Falcons is worth $2 million up front with another $2 million in incentives based on sacks
— Ed Werder (@WerderEdESPN) August 3, 2016
Freeney has extended his career as a pass-rush specialist, seeing his tackle totals diminish over the final five seasons, but his sack totals stay about the same. With the exception of an injury-shortened 2013, Freeney continues to wreak havoc on NFL pass pockets. in his 11-year career he’s posted 119.5 sacks and 46 forced fumbles in the regular season. Freeney has 10 career playoff sacks.
