Clark Hunt says Chiefs want Tyrann Mathieu back for 2022

The Kansas City Chiefs' regular season is 10 weeks old — about the same amount of time it's been since any mention of safety Tyrann Mathieu's ongoing contract discussions. Mathieu is currently playing in the final year of his three-year contract.

Many felt that a new long-term deal for Mathieu would come before the season began (including Mathieu himself), but the two sides did not come to an agreement.

Despite that fact, Chiefs owner, chairman and CEO Clark Hunt says the franchise still fully intends to have him back for 2022 and beyond.

"Those plans haven't changed at all," said Hunt on Thursday during his midseason update with reporters. "It was something that we discussed with Tyrann and his representative in the offseason before we started playing regular-season games — but really, once we got into the season, it's really best for both parties to wait until the end of the year, and we would obviously love to have Tyrann back, not only for his play on the field but his leadership as well."

That prospect became a bit more complicated when the Chiefs decided to trade for left tackle Orlando Brown, who is 25 and on the final year of his rookie contract. The likely scenario is that one player is signed long-term while the other — likely Brown — is franchise-tagged, delaying conversations for another year.

"We've been delighted to have Orlando part of the organization," said Hunt. "He and his offensive line teammates have done a great job of really rebuilding what was a weakness for us at the end of last year. So we're very happy and glad about that decision. At this point, you really put contract issues on the back burner. Those will be things that will be taken care of in the offseason."