Safety Tyrann Mathieu, defensive end Frank Clark discuss their futures with KC Chiefs
Tyrann Mathieu’s voice began to crack.
The three-time All-Pro safety had just been asked about his desire to remain with the Kansas City Chiefs following Sunday’s 27-24 overtime loss to the Bengals in the AFC Championship Game at Arrowhead Stadium.
He’s set to become a free agent this offseason.
“I hope so,” Mathieu said, clearly overwhelmed by the emotion. “Ever since I came here, I’ve just tried to be the right kind of teammate. I’ve tried to play my part. And obviously it’s always that feeling that you could make more plays for your team, but I’m hoping it works out.
“I don’t have any control over that. I feel like everything that was in my control, I tried my best to handle it and to do it with a smile. I love this team, I love this locker room. It’s a lot of coaches that I have great relationships with, so I’m hoping, yeah.”
Mathieu just finished the final year of a three-year contract, which includes a base salary of $14.5 million. The Chiefs had hoped to reach a deal on an extension with him before the start of the 2021 season, but weren’t able to because of salary cap implications.
“Those plans haven’t changed at all,” Chiefs chairman and CEO Clark Hunt said in November about the team’s desire to extend Mathieu. “It was something that we discussed with Tyrann and his representative in the offseason before we started playing regular-season games. But really, once we got in the season, it’s really best for both parties to wait for the end of the year.”
Defensive end Frank Clark was also asked about his future with the Chiefs. He has two years remaining on his contract, which pays a base salary of $19 million in 2022 and $20.5 million in 2023.
“Man, Kansas City is home,” Clark said. “I bought a house here, my daughter goes to school and stuff like that here, it’s home, man. So I want to be here for the future, for the rest of my career, but ... unfortunately, the way business goes, things don’t happen the way you want them to happen all the time.
“But offseason, got a lot of stuff to do, Man. Season just ended, that’s what the offseason is for. Gotta talk to God. I’m sure y’all are seeing it in the media and stuff like that, what’s going on. So it ain’t gonna be hard to keep up with me.”
This story was originally published January 30, 2022 at 7:30 PM.
