Three years ago, the Cardinals struck gold in round three of the draft by landing defensive back Tyrann Mathieu. Now, the Cardinals hope to struck a long-term deal with him -- eventually.
“We haven’t put a deadline on that yet but because of the draft and because of free agency we probably didn’t put enough time into it during that period as we could have or should have,” Cardinals G.M. Steve Keim said recently on PFT Live. “But that’s something that we’ll jump back on here shortly. We’ve had great dialogue with Tom Condon and his group, who represents Tyrann. We have a really good relationship and there’s no question both sides want to get something done. So hopefully we’ll get something done in the near future.”
In March, Mathieu said on PFT Live that the negotiations are going to be “kind of a wrestling match,” due in part to the fact that he’s listed as a safety but plays cornerback most of the time. Keim, however, doesn’t think the distinction will get in the way of the negotiations.
“More than anything he’s a football player regardless of position and he’s a guy who can be a difference maker,” Keim said. “The hardest part of it all is in three years he has had two significant knee injuries. Aside from that Tyrann has done everything right on and off the field and he’s a guy that we envision as hopefully a face of the program moving forward.”
The knee injuries ultimately could make the Cardinals leery about assuming the injury risk via a long-term deal until it’s clear that Mathieu has fully recovered from his latest ACL tear. It would be unwise to bet against him, but it’s no surprise that the Cardinals may want to wait until they’re sure he’s the same guy he was before the injury.