Arizona Cardinals Ink Tyrann Mathieu To Megadeal

The “Honey Badger” will no longer worry about going hungry.

Tyrann Mathieu signed a five-year, $62 million contract with the Arizona Cardinals Tuesday, making the defensive back one of the highest paid players at the position in the NFL.

Arizona Cardinals Ink Mathieu To Megadeal

Rumors of contract negotiations between the two sides have been swirling for weeks, but as Mathieu continues to rehab an ACL he tore in his right knee with two games left in 2015, the urgency of the preseason and cap configuration pushed the parties back to the table to hammer out an agreement Tuesday.

The contract includes $40 million in guarantees, according to ESPN’s NFL Insider Adam Schefter, a lofty figure for some, considering concerns over the 24 year-old’s current knee injury, coupled with a left ACL tear in 2013.

Coming off a season where he was drawing significant consideration for NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors before injuring himself in Week 15, the “Honey Badger” has now inked the highest-paying contract for a safety in the history of the league, in terms of guarantees, according to ESPN records.

TYRANN MATHIEU 2015 HIGHLIGHTS

He may have earned it.

Mathieu made five interceptions, tallied 89 tackles and added a sack in 14 games last season. His flexibility within the secondary offered Cardinals defensive coordinator James Bettcher a variety of options.

All though he was listed as a safety, Mathieu played over 60 percent of his snaps at cornerback, leading Pro Football Focus to declare him the best cornerback in the NFL, even if he appeared in your program as a safety.

At 5-foot-9, many recruiters questioned whether Mathieu could play cornerback at an SEC program, but he proved them wrong when he first arrived on campus at LSU.

Dubbed, the “Honey Badger” by a coach on the LSU staff, Mathieu made waves with his aggressive style of play and his penchant for ripping the ball away from opponents, often much larger in stature.

As a true freshman for the Tigers, Mathieu played in 13 games, making 59 tackles with three sacks and two INTs. He followed that up with 77 tackles, five forced fumbles, recovering four and returning two for touchdowns.

Mathieu also ran two kicks back for TDs in his sophomore season.

HONEY BADGER WAS EVERYWHERE AT 2011 SEC CHAMPIONSHIP

He was named the MVP of the 2011 SEC Championship, but the season did not come without difficulty. Mathieu was suspended for violating LSU’s drug policy and before his junior year began he was kicked off the team for repeated marijuana violations.

It appears he has cleaned up his act.

When Arizona selected Mathieu with the 69th pick (third round) in the 2012 NFL Draft the agreement the two sides struck, then, hinged on his enrollment in a drug-testing program.

Since, the “Honey Badger” has managed to keep his nose clean, but his instincts for finding the football have never wavered.

In 40 career NFL games, Mathieu has posted nearly 200 tackles, eight interceptions, 30 passes defended, two sacks, two forced fumbles, with one TD.

“For some reason, I was always attracted to the football,” Mathieu said in November 2014.

Now, he’ll have 40 million more reasons to feel attracted.

Article by Kevin Xavier