What is Tyrann Mathieu’s legacy with the Kansas City Chiefs?

The final chapter of the Tyrann Mathieu story with the Kansas City Chiefs has come to a close. After almost an entire year of speculation, the Honey Badger signed with the New Orleans Saints on Monday, effectively ending his tenure with the Chiefs.

It’s a bittersweet moment for the Kingdom, which has cherished Tyrann’s presence on and off the field for the past three years. It’s somewhat amazing that a player can make such a difference for a franchise, while only playing there for three years. Indeed, it’s hard to believe that the Landlord had played for two other teams before even coming to KC, and now he’s dawning a fourth.

Of those four teams, K.C. was ultimately where he built his legacy. Mathieu signed in 2019 as part of a defensive overhaul with the Chiefs coming off a soul-crushing loss in the AFC title game—mostly because of their terrible defense.

Now that his tenure with the Chiefs is over, what kind of legacy does Tyrann Mathieu leave behind him after three years in Kansas City?

Brett Veach brought Tyrann in with the hopes of bringing some much-needed toughness and leadership to then-new defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s defense. Along with the trade acquisition of Frank Clark, the hopes paid off. In his first year commanding the Chiefs defense, the team won the Super Bowl, and that will ultimately be his crowning achievement for this team.

But his legacy doesn’t stop there. Even though they ultimately lost, the Chiefs went back to the Super Bowl the very next year—a team who hadn’t sniffed a Super Bowl in 50 years went back-to-back. And it was in large part because the Honey Badger was the best leader that the defense could have asked for.

Even though his final year with the Chiefs was considered somewhat of a “letdown”—how far our standards have come when losing the AFC title game is a letdown!—Mathieu continued to play hard and strong and be the leader the team needed. His future contract was largely a mystery, which can play mind games on some players, but for Mathieu, he just pushed ahead even with an uncertain future.

The future is certain now: Tyrann Mathieu is a Saint, playing with his former teammate Dan Sorensen down in New Orleans. There will be much debate on whether or not the Landlord deserves to be in the Chiefs Hall of Fame. He was only here for three years, but those three years were incredible. He collected rent from every opponent that came to Arrowhead. He’ll certainly go down in Chiefs’ lore.

I hope he’s successful in the Big Easy, and I’m thankful for the ring he helped bring to K.C.