Written by Mike Florio at NBCSports.com
Cardinals G.M. Steve Keim recently hinted during an appearance on PFT Live that the team wouldsoon be prioritizing negotiations with defensive back Tyrann Mathieu. The prioritization apparently has occurred.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that the Cardinals and Mathieu are “deep in negotiations” regarding an extension of a rookie contract that expires after the 2016 season. Rapoport writes that Mathieu will soon be the league’s highest-paid safety.
Becoming the highest-paid safety is a given. The real question is whether Mathieu will land at or near the top of the list of the league’s highest-paid cornerbacks.
Mathieu, who plays more corner than safety, told PFT Live earlier this year that he expects the talks to at some point become a “wrestling match.” Keim, however, downplayed the possibility that a dispute will arise over contract value based on which position Mathieu primarily plays.
“More than anything he’s a football player regardless of position and he’s a guy who can be a difference maker,” Keim said. “The hardest part of it all is in three years he has had two significant knee injuries. Aside from that Tyrann has done everything right on and off the field and he’s a guy that we envision as hopefully a face of the program moving forward.”
The high-water mark for safeties on a multi-year deal is currently $10 million, the value of the deal given by the Seahawks to Earl Thomas. Eric Berry of the Chiefs currently is on the books for $10.8 million in Kansas City, under the franchise tag. At cornerback, Josh Norman recently nudged the bar at his position to $15 million per year.
So there’s a range of roughly $5 million between the highest-paid safety and the highest-paid cornerback.
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