Former Cardinals safety Tyrann Mathieu wasn’t on the open market long. Shortly after being released by his drafting team, the 2015 First Team All-Pro is reportedly signing with the Texans, ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweets. 
Schefter also reports the deal is a one-year contract worth $7MM (Twitter link).
The addition is a big one for the Texans defense, which finished last in the NFL in scoring defense in 2017. The signing, coupled with the return of J.J. Watt, is sure to help the unit return to one of the top squads in the league.
Had Mathieu remained on Arizona’s roster past the day he was released, he would have had a large chunk of his contract guaranteed. Unwilling to carry his $14.1MM cap hit in 2018, the Cardinals released him in order to free up resources for free agency. The 25-year-old defender said he was willing to restructure his deal but balked at the notion of the pay cut.
Mathieu, inked a five-year, $62.5MM extension with the Cardinals back in 2016. That deal came after an ACL tear ended his 2015 campaign early. In 2016, he suited up for just ten games. Last year, he played a full 16-game slate, but didn’t look like his usual self.
When PFR looked at Houston’s top needs entering free agency, No. 2 on the list was bolster the secondary. There is no question this move checks that off. In 2015, the safety earned All-Pro honors after registering five interceptions and 89 tackles. If he can return to that form, landing Matthieu will be a huge get for a burgeoning Texans squad.
[RELATED: Texans Depth Chart]
solid pickup
Houston is an AFC Sleeper pick if they stay healthy
If Watsom come back healthy and looks like he did last year they won’t be a sleeper.
Titans better.
No.
You need to chill
Damn I was hoping to see him go to Green Bay
1 year 7 million packers should have given him 8 million
So much for signing with a team with a history and culture of winning. Is everything these players say lip service?
You mad?
So he was supposed to sign with NE?
denny816: “So much for signing with a team with a history and culture of winning.”
The Texans have had a winning record in six of the last nine years and gone to the playoffs four times, most recently two years straight in 2015 and 2016 (well, three years straight if we’re talking about a winning record). He could have done a LOT worse.
If they stay healthy the Texans are serious contenders so why wouldn’t he sign there
I would suggest the lip service we fans hear from front office management is even more ludicrous than what the players are putting out there. I won’t even comment on Roger Goodell who is probably one of the greatest ‘spin masters’ of all time.
Don’t get it, isn’t willing to take pay cut from $14 Million and signs for 7. I get he wasn’t worth 14 but why wouldn’t he just agree with Arizona for somewhere in the 10 million range unless he just badly misread his market
Maybe Arizona didn’t offer him $10 mil…
Maybe he follows James Harden’s posse on snap chat
Or maybe he knows that Arizona will finish dead last this year and doesn’t want any part of it.
AFC South quietly becoming one of the better divisions in football.
Really, really, really quietly…like only a couple comments on message boards on the entire internet quietly…
The AFC South could be really good next year. Houston, Jacksonville, and Tennessee should all compete for the division crown. And if Luck is healthy, the Colts will be a tough out too.
Colts will be bd even if they had Peyton back in his prime.