NFL
Tyrann Mathieu Is ‘Recruiting’ an All-Pro Cornerback For the Kansas City Chiefs
Joe Kozlowski began his career as a sports journalist in 2013 and joined Sportscasting in 2019. He covers the NBA and soccer for Sportscasting, with specialties in legacy NBA players such as Michael Jordan and Premier League club Arsenal. Off the clock, he's a Kansas City Chiefs fan and a hockey goalie. Growing up loving Shaquille O'Neal and reading everything he could about the great big men throughout NBA history — likely because he was still tall enough, at least relative to his peers, to play center — he's continued to love learning about and exploring the historical and story-based sides of the basketball archives. As for Arsenal, Joe spent a year living in London and latched onto the local support of the club. He's barely missed a match since, loving Arsene Wenger, enduring the Banter Era, and following along through rebuilds. The Premier League interest developed into a passionate following of the Champions League, Europe's big five league, and international soccer as a whole when played at the highest level. Regardless of the sport, Joe is captivated by the stories of athletes beyond the box scores and how they push the envelope — both in terms of what we think a human is capable of accomplishing and how they find new competitive tactics to win.
All posts by Joe KozlowskiUpdated15 Mar 2020
While Patrick Mahomes obviously made a massive difference, the Kansas City Chiefs’ defense played a major part in the club’s Super Bowl success. Tyrann Mathieu was a key member of that unit; he, along with Frank Clark and Steve Spagnuolo, helped the group go from a punchline to league champions. Mathieu, however, isn’t ready to rest on his laurels just yet.
In anticipation of NFL free agency, the Kansas City safety has apparently been spending his time recruiting an All-Pro corner. Could the Honey Badger’s efforts make the Chiefs’ defense even better next season?
Tyrann Mathieu’s first season with the Kansas City Chiefs
After falling short in the 2018 AFC Championship, the Kansas City Chiefs needed to retool their defense. That meant moving on from the likes of Dee Ford, Eric Berry, and Bob Sutton while bringing in Tyrann Mathieu, Frank Clark, and Steve Spagnuolo.
While nothing seemed different at first, the defense turned a corner in the second half of the season. Once the unit grasped Spagnuolo’s scheme—it uses a great deal of Cover 7, which involves cornerbacks and safeties working together to “bracket” receivers—turnovers and bigs stops became more and more common in Kansas City.
Mathieu became a vital part of the defense, posting 75 combined tackles, 12 passes defended, and four interceptions; he also formed a tight bond with Spagnuolo, himself. At the end of the season, the safety helped the Chiefs lift the Lombardi Trophy for the first time in 50 years. After blowing the AFC Championship a year earlier, the Chiefs defense had redeemed itself.
Tyran Matthieu is trying to recruit Chris Harris Jr.
Unless the NFL changes its offseason schedule, free agency is just around the corner. According to Chris Harris Jr., Tyran Matthieu has been launching a charm offensive, trying to bring the cornerback to Kansas City.
Harris has spent his entire NFL career with the Denver Broncos, but recently said he wants to leave Colorado to make a run at another Super Bowl. Matthieu, it seems, has been reminding him that the Chiefs are one of the top teams in the entire league; if you want to make it to the big game, it’s probably a good idea to link up with Patrick Mahomes.
“[He says] just come up there, man,” the veteran cornerback told TMZ Sports. “Play with him, be able to do what I’ve done in the past—play everywhere on the field, and also play with a great quarterback!”
Could Chris Harris Jr. really join the Kansas City Chiefs?
In a vacuum, Chris Harris Jr. and the Kansas City Chiefs seem like a good match; his presence would boost the club’s improving defense, and he’d get a shot at another championship. In reality, however, things will be much more complicated.
If they expect to do any business this offseason, the Chiefs’ front office will need to get creative. Even if they franchise tag Chris Jones, that will use up most of their available cap space. While there’s always room to restructure contracts, make trades, or even cut players, most of the money would probably be used internally. Chris Harris Jr. has quite the resume, and several teams are apparently interested in his services; it’s unlikely he’ll come cheap, just because of Tyrann Mathieu’s appeals.
At the end of the day, though, you can’t knock the safety’s hustle. If Matthieu can actually bring Chris Harris Jr. to Kansas City, he may have a future as a recruiter after his playing career comes to an end.
