Rаnkіng 3 beѕt Tyrаnn Mаtһіeu trаde deѕtіnаtіonѕ іn 2025 NFL offѕeаѕon

These are the best landing spots if the Saints decide to trade veteran safety Tyrann Mathieu.

The New Orleans Saints are in for plenty of change this upcoming offseason. New Orleans suffered another terrible season in 2024, finishing 5-12 and earning the ninth overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. This caused Saints ownership to fire head coach Dennis Allen midseason, who has yet to be replaced by a permanent head coach. Although, it seems their sights are clearly set on Philadelphia offensive coordinator Kellen Moore.

Naturally, a new coaching staff will want to tweak the roster to fit the image their new head coach has for the team. That could be tricky.

New Orleans is notoriously loose with the salary cap under GM Mickey Loomis. The Saints routinely enter the offseason with negative salary cap space, only to restructure contracts and make other moves to become cap compliant. This year is no different, with the Saints currently $54 million over the 2025 salary cap.

As such, the Saints need to find ways to maximize their limited cap space. One route they could take is trading away aging veterans who has larger cap hits in 2025 and beyond.

This all leads us to Saints safety Tyrann Mathieu. The veteran free safety is a luxury the Saints can no longer afford. If New Orleans does not trade him this offseason, they will miss their window to get anything of value back for him. Therefore, they must consider trading him this offseason.

Below we will explore three of the best trade destinations for Saints safety Tyrann Mathieu ahead of the 2025 NFL offseason.

1. Former Saints head coach Dennis Allen could look to add culture leader in Chicago

The Chicago Bears are by far the best landing spot for Tyrann Mathieu if he is traded this offseason. This pairing really checks all the conceivable boxes.

It all starts with the Bears hiring former Saints head coach Dennis Allen as their defensive coordinator. Allen is obviously familiar with Mathieu over the past three seasons. That familiarity has certainly created some trust between the two men. This could come into play when determining a landing spot in a trade.

That familiarly also means that Mathieu understands the nuances of how Allen's defensive scheme works. As a result, he could be especially valuable to the Bears as someone who can be a “coach on the field” while installing Allen's scheme this year.

Mathieu is also known across the NFL as an incredible leader in the locker room. In fact, Patrick Mahomes once said that Mathieu is the best leader he has been around in the NFL. That is certainly high praise coming from Mahomes.

His strong leadership skills, paired with his knowledge of Allen's scheme, could make him an ideal culture fit for what the Bears want to build. The Bears could seriously benefit from adding Mathieu to help build a new culture under new head coach Ben Johnson.

Intangibles aside, Mathieu is still a productive safety. He could absolutely earn a role alongside Jaquan Brisker, Jonathan Owens, and Kevin Byard III at the safety position.

2. Would Mathieu be a fit in Mike Macdonald's defense in Seattle?

Defense is almost more important than offense in Seattle under head coach Mike Macdonald.

Macdonald's defensive scheme is the new rage in the NFL after having a hugely successful season with the Ravens in 2023. His scheme features several nuances, which lends itself to brainy players who can play at their best when they intimately understand the scheme.

As an NFL veteran, Mathieu is positioned better than most other players to adopt this new scheme.

Mathieu is only under contract for one more season. That could make him an ideal bridge player for the Seahawks in 2025.

But why would the Seahawks prioritize a bridge player? Simply put, they are on the cusp of blowing things up after the 2025 season.

Seattle only has $125 million in cap liabilities in 2026, which currently gives them over $160 million in available cap space to spend however they choose.

So long as the Seahawks can afford Mathieu, he could be an excellent short-term solution for a team that will likely move on from a ton of players over the next year.

3. Saints' Tyrann Mathieu could be a useful piece in Brian Flores' defense in Minnesota

The Vikings are another possible contender to trade for Mathieu.

Minnesota's current starter at free safety, Camryn Bynum, is set to test the free agency market this March. Bynum is not expected to command an absurd about of money. That said, if he becomes a hot commodity, a bidding war could make him too expensive for the Vikings.

If that were to happen, Mathieu could be a reliable one-year solution for the Vikings.

Minnesota enters the offseason with roughly $58 million in cap space to work with. They could certainly take on Mathieu's 2025 contract, especially if they can get a good price on trade terms from the Saints.

The Vikings come in at third place because of the possibility of keeping Cam Bynum.