Report: Steelers Among 9 Teams Interested in FA Safety Tyrann Mathieu

The Steelers are among nine teams that are interested in free agent safety Tyrann Mathieu, according to a report by Jordan Schultz of Yahoo! Sports.

In addition to the seven mentioned above, Schultz also said in a follow-up tweet that the Las Vegas Raiders and Miami Dolphins are interested.

It can be tough to gauge the interest level for all these teams as “showing interest” can mean anything from calling him once in order to hear his asking price to aggressively pursuing said player. In the case of the Steelers and Mathieu though, enough reports have been out there to assume that the Steelers have a decent level of interest in the superstar safety. At the very least enough interest to take a report like Schultz’s seriously.

Mathieu said that he has spoken to Steelers’ head coach Mike Tomlin this off-season via a phone call. Schultz’s report came a day after Mathieu said he received a phone call from Tomlin.

While it’s impossible to confirm the true interest level of those eight other teams, it seem the Steelers will have some competition if they want to land the talented safety. Mathieu a four-time All-Pro, three-time Pro Bowler, and was a member of the NFL 2010s All-Decade Team.

Even after the recent re-signing of safety Karl Joseph the Steelers still have a hole at the strong safety position, as incumbent Terrell Edmunds remains a free agent. Re-signing Edmunds is also a possibility for the team, and the Steelers have also been linked to Cowboys safety Damontae Kazee.

While a 29-year-old free agent like Mathieu doesn’t fit the Steelers typical targets in the off-season, the chance to fill that hole and pair him with superstar Minkah Fitzpatrick to form one of the best safety combinations in the history of the league may be to enticing to pass up.