The New Orleans Saints parted ways with veteran safety Tyrann Mathieu meaning Justin Reid just lost any transition window he thought he had with his new team. Reid, who was signed by the Saints earlier this offseason, immediately becomes Mathieu’s replacement in the Big Easy. That’s good for the Saints who turned to a former Super Bowl champion to lead the secondary.
They could have put themselves in a better position by signing Reid. Though the Chiefs dropped him, which was probably more salary wise than anything, the Saints get a safety that can immediately help this secondary. And with him being just 28 years old, the expectations are high.
Maybe that’s why the Saints parted ways with Reid; they felt he had more to offer than Mathieu did, who just turned 33 and will be in his 13th NFL season. Either way, the Saints aren’t giving Reid any grace period after cutting Mathieu and now Reid will have the pressure of being just as impactful as he was in Kansas City.
Justin Reid’s role with the New Orleans Saints just got a lot bigger after Tyrann Mathieu gets cut
The Saints are probably going to use Reid as a coverage safety and up close to the line in run defense. He’s been a solid safety covering the entire field. In 2023, he recorded three sacks, helping the Chiefs win its second-straight Super Bowl. He also had 74 solo tackles that year, the most in a season in his career.
In his final two seasons in Kansas City,he also had three total interceptions. He may not be a carbon copy of Mathieu, per se, but if the Chiefs had to have any replacement, Reid is the perfect one. His role will be even bigger now as the Saints begin training camp. They signed him to a three-year deal this offseason so they have full belief he can fill in perfectly.
This Saints pass defense needs a lot of help after giving up over 4,000 passing yards all of last season. While they were pretty good at keeping teams out of the endzone on pass plays, they gave up a lot of yards and getting younger while still adding a solid vet in the secondary was the right move.
In each of the last three seasons, Mathieu led the team in interceptions, recording at least three in each season. If that tells you anything, it’s the Saints are going to rely on their last line of defense to have an important role in containing teams passing attack.
Reid may be the new player on the team, but the expectations for him this season just went up exponentially. Sure the Saints are necessarily competing for an NFC South division title or even a playoff spot, but they’re expecting their new safety to be just as impactful as their last one.