The Arizona Cardinals released Tyrann Mathieu when free agency opened up this past offseason. It was reported that the two sides were working towards a contract restructure, but ultimately the team chose to release him. A lot of the money saved by cutting Mathieu would be given to the current free agent Sam Bradford. That decision was beyond questionable.

Nevertheless, Mathieu’s time with the Cardinals had its ups and downs. He was often injured but made a difference for James Bettcher’s defense when healthy. Tyrann immediately became a fan favorite. His jersey was one of the most popular choices at games and around Phoenix. Mathieu was an Arizona sports icon.

We will probably never know what exactly happened between the Cardinals front office and Mathieu. Reports suggested that he rejected a pay cut from the cap-needy Cardinals. He felt he could make much more money elsewhere, but ended up signing for less money with the Texans than what the Cardinals offered.

It is safe to say, though, he was unhappy with how things ended, based on recent comments.

Mathieu <a href=" "Man, I'm not coming back to Arizona after what y'all did to me," he said on the live stream. "Y'all crazy man. Y'all people did me wrong in Arizona. I'll never come back to Arizona. I'm going to always take care of the community though, but I ain't coming back after what y'all did to me." Mathieu then proceeded to take a very aggressive bite of a cheeseburger. There are definitely two sides to this issue. There's the possibility Keim and the Cardinals front office didn't do their part in negotiating with Mathieu. The other side will make fans very frustrated. He was loved in Arizona. Fans adored him and wanted nothing more than to see him succeed. The organization gave him a chance in the 2013 draft when seemingly no one else would. He was getting hurt a lot and not on the football field late in 2015 and the majority of 2016. The Cardinals were in a very difficult place with little cap space and no quarterback and holes in the offensive line. They needed Mathieu to take the paycut. Reports said the final offer was around $8 million to stay. He declined and accept a $7-million offer from Houston. Again, we don't know the full story. This is not the way fans wanted to see their beloved player go. Props to Tyrann for still supporting the community in Arizona. He will be a free agent in 2019. It would appear a comeback to the desert will not happen.

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