Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson’s relationship with safety Tyrann Mathieu stretched well beyond the time the two men spent together in the Arizona secondary.
Mathieu came to LSU while Peterson was winding down his collegiate career and they played a year together in Baton Rouge before Peterson moved onto the NFL. They spent five years together with the Cardinals, but won’t be teammates this year as Mathieu is now with the Texans after getting cut by the Cardinals in a cost-saving move.
“It was very hard,” Peterson said of Mathieu leaving the team, via ESPN.com. “Obviously, seeing the rumors and the speculation that it was a possibility that he was going to leave, I was just trying my best to try to sweep it under the rug. And I’m quite sure he was trying to do the same thing. So, it’s very tough, very tough to see a brother leave and go onto a different team.”
Peterson’s wistfulness goes beyond his friendship with Mathieu. He shared his prediction that Mathieu will have “a really big year” for the Texans as he moves through the offseason without any injury to rehab and joins a team with other strong defensive pieces in front of him.