It's Official: The Saints have signed Tyrann Mathieu

It's official: The New Orleans Saints have signed unrestricted free agent Tyrann Mathieu to a three-year contract, it was announced today by Executive Vice President/General Manager Mickey Loomis.

Here's a tweet from the team:

Mathieu, 5-9, 190, was originally selected by the Arizona Cardinals in the third round (69^th overall) in the 2013 NFL Draft out of Louisiana State University and has played for the Cardinals (2013-17), Houston Texans (2018) and Kansas City Chiefs (2019-21). In nine NFL seasons, he has played in 129 regular season games with 120 starts and has posted career totals of 605 tackles (519 solo), 41 stops for loss, ten sacks for a loss of 78 yards, 26 interceptions for 335 returns yards, three brought back for touchdowns, 76 passes defensed, four forced fumbles, six fumble recoveries and ten special teams stops. His 13 picks since 2019 are tied for fifth in the NFL. Mathieu has been selected to three Pro Bowls, three Associated Press All-Pro teams and the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s 2010’s All-Decade Team.

Mathieu has appeared in 11 postseason contests with ten starts and has produced career playoff totals of 49 tackles (40 solo), one interception and four passes defensed, including being part of Kansas City’s Super Bowl LIV championship team.

In 2021, Mathieu was selected to his third Pro Bowl, as he started all 16 games and finished with 76 tackles (60 solo), two stops for loss, one sack, three interception returns for 56 yards, including a 34-yard return for a touchdown, six passes defensed and also tied for first in the league with three fumble recoveries.

A New Orleans native, who prepped at St. Augustine High School, Mathieu played two seasons (2010-11) at LSU, where he posted 133 tackles, six sacks, four interceptions, 16 passes defensed, 11 forced fumbles and eight fumble recoveries. His 11 forced fumbles are a program record. As a sophomore in 2011, Mathieu posted 77 stops, 1.5 sacks, two picks, nine passes defensed, six forced fumbles and five fumble recoveries, earning National Defensive Player of the Year honors, unanimous first-team All-American accolades and was the recipient of the Bednarik Award. He became the first defensive back to be invited to the Heisman Trophy ceremony since 1997 and finished fifth in the final voting.

Mathieu has also been extremely active in every community where he has played football, including his hometown. The Chiefs 2021 team nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year award, he has held an annual youth football camp in New Orleans, as well as a celebrity kickball game in his hometown. In addition to using his foundation to impact the lives of financially disadvantaged youth, Mathieu also made a $1 million donation to LSU for the Football Operations Center nicknamed “Honey Badger” and to establish a scholarship at the university.