Why the Saints are signing Tyrann Mathieu, and how he’ll fit on defense
By Nick Underhill | neworleans.football
The visit was leading somewhere and quite possibly nowhere all at once.
The Saints’ interest in Tyrann Mathieu predated free agency. The dynamic playmaker brings a certain style of play to the field that Dennis Allen covets, but the circumstances hadn’t aligned. Sometimes both sides can want something to happen, but the details never line up.
Even when Mathieu visited the Saints last month, everyone involved knew there wasn’t a deal to be made. The safety was in town visiting family, and the team brought him to the facility to get to know him. Mathieu met with Mickey Loomis, Dennis Allen and the defensive coordinators, toured the facility and got some gear for his kids. Everyone felt good about the visit, and it went well enough to leave the door open, but it wasn’t enough for Mathieu to decline a virtual visit with the Eagles shortly after.
But the fit was always too obvious. Every time Allen spoke about how he wanted to have interchangeable safeties capable of playing either free or strong safety on any given snap, it was hard not to think about how nicely Mathieu would fit into that vision alongside Marcus Maye. In some ways, it felt like the role got made for Mathieu. ...
Full Story - neworleans.football
By Nick Underhill | neworleans.football
The visit was leading somewhere and quite possibly nowhere all at once.
The Saints’ interest in Tyrann Mathieu predated free agency. The dynamic playmaker brings a certain style of play to the field that Dennis Allen covets, but the circumstances hadn’t aligned. Sometimes both sides can want something to happen, but the details never line up.
Even when Mathieu visited the Saints last month, everyone involved knew there wasn’t a deal to be made. The safety was in town visiting family, and the team brought him to the facility to get to know him. Mathieu met with Mickey Loomis, Dennis Allen and the defensive coordinators, toured the facility and got some gear for his kids. Everyone felt good about the visit, and it went well enough to leave the door open, but it wasn’t enough for Mathieu to decline a virtual visit with the Eagles shortly after.
But the fit was always too obvious. Every time Allen spoke about how he wanted to have interchangeable safeties capable of playing either free or strong safety on any given snap, it was hard not to think about how nicely Mathieu would fit into that vision alongside Marcus Maye. In some ways, it felt like the role got made for Mathieu. ...
Full Story - neworleans.football