Tyrann Mathieu had refused to take a pay cut to stay with the Arizona Cardinals, but he was willing to do so to join the Houston Texans.
According to Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic, the Cardinals would have been willing to pay Mathieu $8 million in 2018, but he ultimately chose to join Houston for $7 million.
Source confirmed #AZcardinals willing to pay Mathieu $8 million in 18. He Declined and took possible $7 million from Texans.
— Kent Somers (@kentsomers) March 17, 2018
Mathieu had declined to restructure his deal before the Cardinals released him. Perhaps there are other reasons for that — maybe his market wasn’t what he anticipated, or maybe the thought of playing for a Texans team that had Deshaun Watson returning was intriguing to him. Either way, he’ll settle for less than he theoretically could have made otherwise.
