After an 11-year-long stint in the big league — and a slight decline in performance in the last season — no one was expecting safety Tyrann Mathieu to land a lucrative deal. But to anyone’s surprise, the former LSU Tigers star recently inked a two-year, $13 million deal with the Saints, potentially confirming that he will hang up his cleats in his own city. This story, however, has since taken an unexpected turn, with the NFL itself reporting it on its social media, but crediting the wrong person who initially broke the news.
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The National Football League, on X (formerly Twitter), announced that the Saints are signing a two-year deal with Tyrann Mathieu, but credited Ian Rapoport instead of the actual reporter who broke the news first — Josina Anderson from CBS. In a tweet this Thursday, Anderson claimed that the Pro Bowler safety was about to sign a $13 million contract with the Saints and cited Nick Underhill as her source about the length of the contract (two years).
I’m told the #Saints are re-signing Tyrann Mathieu to a 2-year, $13M deal, per source. Nick Underhill first on the length of the deal.
— JosinaAnderson (@JosinaAnderson) March 7, 2024
Anderson even clarified the error under the NFL’s post on X, stating, “Literally he (Ian Rapoport) broke none of this.” Some fans even went on to demand that the league’s social media page give the CBS reporter her due credit; surprisingly, sparking an investigation from internet detectives.
Did Josina Anderson Break Tyrann Mathieu’s News First?
Anderson’s comment has since riled up the football community. While a few concurred that Rapoport never really reported any of this, others called out the NFL Insider of CBS. One fan sought justice by commenting, “Give (Josina Anderson) her credit for breaking this story”
Give @JosinaAnderson her credit for breaking this story
— EJ (@itsmine49) March 7, 2024
However, there were also a few who expressed how it was neither Rapoport nor Anderson, who reported this story, crediting Nick Underhill, who first broke the story on X.
Neither did you…. https://t.co/xXaaiMNd5l
— CMC trade was robbery (@49ersfocus) March 7, 2024
Josina Anderson clarified — that while Underhill was the one to disclose the length of the deal, she was the first to reveal the specific amount. She replied to the previous user’s comment, saying,
Compensation, not the length. Read my tweet. God bless.
— JosinaAnderson (@JosinaAnderson) March 7, 2024
Yet another fan expressed that the league wasn’t in the wrong, remarking, “It doesn’t say anything about Breaking….its an alert and RapSheet (Ian Rapoport) confirmed it via his sources”
It doesn’t say anything about Breaking….its an alert and rapsheet confirmed it via his sources
— nygiantsnews (@nygiantsnews26) March 7, 2024
Take a look how others reacted,
Who cares who broke it? He doesn’t even say a flipping word about breaking anything. Nobody cares who breaks a story. AT ALL. GET OVER YOURSELF
— 2ndTimeAroundEstateFinds (@Pokerace2023) March 7, 2024
As fans of football no one gives a shit who broke it
— Nicholas Daniel (@PackerNick1991) March 7, 2024
Its the nfl official account.
He works for the nfl network.
Theres no mention of “breaking the news”
— 0 (@la99cali) March 7, 2024
This whole thing is sure a distraction from Tyrann Mathieu’s revised deal. According to Spotrac, the star safety previously signed a three-year, $28.3 million contract with the Saints. He is set to get a $7 million in base salary this year, which will decrease to $1.25 and $1.3 million in 2025 and 2026, respectively. Fans suspect that Mathieu’s declining age might be the factor behind this pay cut.
