Arizona Cardinals: Sam Bradford, Mike Glennon, Tyrann Mathieu Transaction Grades
Grading Mathieu’s Release
After declining to take a pay cut, Arizona sent Mathieu to the open market. Mathieu is one of the most talented safeties in the league, and was paid like it, as he was owed $13 million in guarantees for 2018 and 2019, along with a $5 million signing bonus.
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Plain and simple, this move can’t be characterized as anything other than awful and there are a few reasons why.
First off, the Cardinals just let go of an exceptional talent in his prime on a contract that wasn’t exactly back-breaking given his abilities. That kind of skill should not be sent to the open market for that reason.
Secondly, while injuries were concerning (he’s torn both ACL’s) he’s no less of an injury risk than Bradford, who they just handed $20 million to. That argument is no longer valid since they’re comfortable paying a walking injury report.
Thirdly, their secondary is now crippled. Yes, Patrick Peterson remains a stalwart at corner but a 33 year-old Antoine Bethea isn’t as formidable as he once was, while Budda Baker has more work to do to reach Mathieu’s level.
This was nothing short of a boneheaded move by the Cardinals and will bring their secondary down. The cap space they created better be spent wisely or else this decision will go down as worse than a boneheaded move, more suitably a horrific move.