Tyrann Mathieu Says He Was 'Heartbroken' to Leave Chiefs in NFL Free Agency

Tyrann Mathieu remains without an NFL team. His former team, the Kansas City Chiefs, have already moved on by signing Justin Reid.

Mathieu, who was considered one of the top free agents in the 2022 class, said he doesn't understand the decision. 

“Bro, I was depressed,” Mathieu told Sam McDowell of the Kansas City Star. “Heartbroken. Heart. Broken. “I could not understand it. I could not, man.”

The four-time All-Pro said he would have accepted the three-year, $31.5 million contract the Chiefs gave to Reid and that it was essentially the team's decision to move on.

Mathieu spent the last three seasons in Kansas City, earning a pair of Pro Bowl and All-Pro nods while helping lead the team to a Super Bowl LIV championship. 

"It was the hardest year of my career," Mathieu said of last season. "I've been through ACLs [surgeries]. I've been through a lot of stuff in this league—having to move my family every two or three years. But that was one of the hardest, longest years of my life.

"I just knew. Everything I was working for, man. Every day I wake up trying to make the Chiefs better, trying to make the community better. I'm just working toward that knowing that there's an end date. There’s an expiration date to that."

Mathieu has played for the Arizona Cardinals, Houston Texans and Chiefs over the course of his nine-year NFL career. He said he was lost at the fact he'll be playing for his fourth NFL team despite his production.