As his contract was going to be up this year, Tyrann Mathieu, 29, had begged that the Kansas City Chiefs keep him on their team. Whenever he had the opportunity, he expressed this desire.
One time, Mathieu offered to take a pay cut and almost cried after the possibility of playing his last game with the Chiefs after losing to the Bengals in the AFC Championship.
At the beginning of the free agency, on Monday, the Chiefs did exactly the opposite. They replaced Mathieu with Justin Reed, an ex-player for the Houston Texans. They gave the 25-year-old a three-year contract worth over $31 million.
This is a big surprise if you follow the Chiefs. However, it really shouldn’t be based on the history of their general manager, Brett Veach. He is known for giving his big free-agent money to younger players who are rising stars.
Since coming to the team in 2017, many of his big free-agent signings or trades have age in common. These include Sammy Watkins, 24, Anthony Hitchens, 25, Frank Clark, 25, and Orlando Brown Jr., 24.
In most of these instances, those people replaced stars who were older. Hitchen took over Derrick Johnson’s position. Matheiu took over Eric Berry’s, Clark replaced Justin Houston, and Brown replaced Eric Fisher.
But Mathieu knew this was coming, often hinting at it on social media. He was aware that the Chiefs will do without some of their greatest stars although they would like to continue to be on the team.
