Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
Cameron Jordan tried his hand at a seven-round New Orleans Saints mock draft, trading down twice and picking three defensive tackles:
The proliferation of NFL draft simulators has helped more and more people share their takes on the annual selection event, and now even current players are joining the fun. New Orleans Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan tried his hand at a seven-round mock draft for his team, and the results are interesting to say the least.
Jordan has the Saints trading down twice and selecting three defensive tackles, along with a local fan-favorite running back. Let’s break down his picks round-by-round:
The #Saints lost Marcus Davenport and now investing in edge rusher this offseason has gone from “smart” to “must”, via @RossJacksonNOLA:
After losing three defensive linemen on the first day of the NFL’s free agency negotiation period, the New Orleans Saints will be looking at a big rebuild on the line, especially in the interior. However, the edge defender position took a big hit as well with the loss of former first-round draft selection Marcus Davenport. After a half-sack season, Davenport agreed to terms on a one-year $13 million deal with the Minnesota Vikings on Monday.
The Saints may not be as devastated on the outside as they are on the inside (of the defensive trenches, I mean) but defensive end is clearly a position the Saints should look to invest in this offseason. Whether they do so via free agency with available edge rushers like veterans Robert Quinn and Arden Key or drafting talented rookies like Northwestern’s Adetomiwa Adebawore, Bowling Green’s Karl Brooks or K.J. Henry of Clemson adding at least one more body to the group should be a priority for the Saints.
Even before the departure of Davenport, offseason acquisitions would have made sense. Now, the position feels like a need when it comes to adding talent. Here are the defensive ends currently on the roster for New Orleans, how they performed in 2022, last year’s snap count and how they’re expected to contribute in 2023:
The Saints redid their contract with Cameron Jordan to save $10 million against the salary cap, which he joked: ‘I feel like this sort of happens every year’
There’s one big item off the to-do list: the New Orleans Saints restructured their contract with defensive end Cameron Jordan to save $10 million in salary cap space ahead of the start of free agency, as first reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The Saints are still over the cap by roughly $16 million so more work needs to be done before the cap-compliance deadline on Wednesday.
Jordan will carry a cap hit of about $15.7 million after redoing his deal, but he could leave behind as much as $15.3 million in dead money if he isn’t re-signed after the 2023 season. He’ll celebrate his 34th birthday this summer before entering the final year of his contract.
But Jordan isn’t sweating it. This will work itself out one way or another. These annual restructures have just become part of his routine.
“I feel like this sort of happens every year at (this) point,” Jordan told CBS Sports’ Josina Anderson while vacationing with his family in Spain.” It’s a standard if you look at my contract. if you think about it, this could all be negated if players had fully guaranteed contracts. Either way, I’m not sure of the specifics on how it helps them with the cap. All I know is that it helps the team, and I get a guaranteed year going into the final year of my dead. We’ll take that every time.”
Jordan became the Saints’ all-time sacks leader in 2022, surpassing Pro Football Hall of Famer and “Dome Patrol” legend Rickey Jackson with a three-sack performance against the Philadelphia Eagles. He’ll be playing for the Saints again in 2023, but what happens after that is anyone’s guess.
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Bleacher Report suggested a bold trade sending Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan to the Seahawks, which would leave New Orleans with $23 million in dead money:
Everyone has their take on what the New Orleans Saints should do this offseason — including Cameron Jordan, who ended his offseason social media hiatus to lobby for his team’s pursuit of former Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr. But what if Jordan himself goes on the move? Would trading him be a consideration?
The latest proposal comes from Bleacher Report’s Alex Ballentine, who suggests the Saints could kick off a rebuild by trading Jordan to the Seattle Seahawks in exchange for a second-round pick in 2023 and a third rounder in 2024.
On the one hand, that’s strong value for an aging player. It would put the Saints on the board three times in a 23-slot span this April, and it would return the third-round pick they sent to the Denver Broncos next year. New Orleans would go on the clock at Nos. 29 (first round), 41 and 53 (second round), plus 72 (third round) through the first two nights of the 2023 draft. That’s appealing, but it isn’t enough.
And on the other hand, this doesn’t help the Saints out financially. They would be left with a $23.4 million dead money payout for Jordan that might otherwise go to different players. Trading him saves only $2.2 million against the salary cap. It’s in their interest to either restructure Jordan’s contract or sign him to a new deal this spring, saving more than $10.6 million while keeping a top defender in the lineup.
And offloading Jordan like this could be hazardous for the state of their defensive line. Starters David Onyemata and Marcus Davenport are both free agents, as is top backup Tanoh Kpassagnon and every other defensive tackle who got into a game for New Orleans last year. The Saints badly need Jordan’s stable presence in the defensive front while renovating the unit around him. That’s to say nothing of Jordan’s value to the team as a leader and steadying presence in the locker room.
Maybe a first-round pick would be worth it (and Seattle owns two of them, at Nos. 5 and 20) but it’s very unlikely the Seahawks would trade those kinds of assets for a 33-year-old pass rusher. Given the salary cap penalties involved, there probably isn’t a realistic price the Saints could find an interested team to agree to in trading for Jordan at this point in the offseason. Playoff hopefuls like Seattle will need to look elsewhere to cure what ails them.
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Cameron Jordan riffed on Sean Payton’s hit-or-miss history of building defenses: ‘You didn’t draft me anybody, so we’ve got a whole lot of nobodies’
Take a bow, Cameron Jordan. The personable New Orleans Saints defensive end has spent the week leading up to Super Bowl LVII making the rounds on Radio Row and sharing his perspective on everything going on around his team — including its former members who have moved on to other opportunities in the NFL.
And no former Saint has made more headlines as of late than Sean Payton, now the head coach of the Denver Broncos. Jordan reflected on his relationship with his old coach and noted that he and Payton only ever interacted much when things were either going really, really well or really badly on defense, given Payton’s background as an offensive coach.
“‘Cam, what the (expletive) are we doing? Step it up,'” Jordan recalled hearing from Payton on The Pivot Podcast with hosts Channing Crowder, Fred Taylor, and Ryan Clark. He continued with his response, “Hey relax. I’ve got this. Or sometimes I’m like, ‘I’ll try and get this.’ You didn’t draft me anybody, so we’ve got a whole lot of nobodies. You did this. But okay, I’ll make it work. We need more, but what did you give me? What did you give me to squeeze more out of?”
Hey, that’s a bar. Payton earned that riff given his spotty streak of defensive draft picks in the years following Jordan’s arrival. All four defenders the Saints drafted with Jordan in 2011 — Martez Wilson, Johnny Patrick, Greg Romeus, and Nate Bussey — were out of town by 2013. Of the 13 defenders the Saints drafted from 2013 to 2015 (Payton was suspended for the 2012 season), only one signed a second contract with the team: P.J. Williams. That includes first-round picks like Kenny Vaccaro and Stephone Anthony, neither of whom are in the NFL anymore.
It’s a good thing Payton acknowledged those defensive issues and brought Jeff Ireland in to lead the college scouting department in 2016, followed by sweeping coaching changes on that side of the ball in 2017. Those moves empowered Dennis Allen to rebuilt the unit from the ground up, which ushered in the greatest three-year streak in team history and finally surrounded Jordan with the talent he needed to get his team a stop when they needed it. That catapulted his career to new heights and set him up for a smooth transition to a media gig of his own whenever he wants it. For now, Jordan is busy venting some frustrations and remaining optimistic that the players and coaches can get New Orleans back where they want to go with Payton working for another team.
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Cameron Jordan sees the appeal of the Saints chasing Derek Carr: ‘As long as it’s not against the Saints, we know he can win’
What do the #Saints think of Derek Carr? @camjordan94 weighs in from Phoenix…including some minor stress at the beginning of this question 😅@WWLTV pic.twitter.com/w0Xlk0oORB
— Brooke Kirchhofer (@brookechesney) February 11, 2023
How would Derek Carr’s potential New Orleans Saints teammates feel about having him join them in black and gold? Cameron Jordan shared his take on the situation as the Saints work to recruit the Las Vegas Raiders quarterback in a conversation with WWL’s Brooke Kirchhofer.
Jordan did downplay the Saints’ meetings with Carr so far: “We’re just courting. It’s just a date. He’s already got another date with Carolina,” Jordan speculated. For what it’s worth, no other team has scheduled a visit with Carr or been reported as a suitor besides the Saints, including the division-rival Panthers.
“Any time the organization has their eyes set on somebody, we can win with them,” Jordan said, expressing faith in the team’s scouting department to find their next quarterback. He acknowledged the success Jameis Winston had prior to his serious back injury and how well Andy Dalton played in a less-than-ideal situation before pivoting back to Carr.
Jordan continued, “You get a guy like Derek Carr, who you know is an upper, young quarterback who can play well into his — is he even 30 yet? We’ve got time. He has like 9 years in the league — and you have a guy you know we can win. We played him last year, so as long as it’s not against the Saints, we know he can win.”
The Raiders are 24-24 in the last three years since moving to Las Vegas, and they’re 63-79 in games Carr has started since 2014, though it’s tough to say how much blame he should get for their lack of success. Their offense has ranked 12th, 18th, and 10th in points scored the last three seasons under Carr’s management but their defense has finished at 26th, 26th, and 30th. It’s a trend that’s continued throughout his career, with the Raiders posting a positive scoring differential only once, in 2016.
So Jordan’s defense could be a big boon for Carr if he can sort things out offensively. But as Jordan pointed out, we’re in the very early stages of any sort of team-up. Carr’s trade deadline is only days away, so hopefully this situation resolves itself quickly, and in a way that benefits New Orleans.
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Cameron Jordan acknowledged his Saints lost a ‘huge level of energy’ and ‘level of consistency’ in Sean Payton on Colin Cowherd’s show:
Just what did the New Orleans Saints locker room lose when Sean Payton stepped down as head coach? That’s a question Colin Cowherd sought to answer this week when he hosted Cameron Jordan on his weekly radio show this week, introducing the Saints’ all-time sacks leader as a future Hall of Famer. And they cut right to the case, with Jordan outlining what the team was missing when Payton left his post last year.
“I mean, (we lost) a huge level of energy. His level of energy is so offensive-minded. It’s, ‘Hey you know I see a wide receiver split at the hash, but it’s not exactly at the hash. I want you to be exactly inside the hash,'” He grunted and glared at the camera in an impression of his old coach making an adjustment during practice. Jordan continued, “And you see a receiver literally shift over, they have that step, they have a little more wriggle-room, they can get open here. On the defensive side, you wouldn’t see that or even think it could matter. … It exposes you and it’s a touchdown.”
And then, Jordan says, Payton would strut over to the defense and point at dozens of plays on his play sheet that could all go yard and score a touchdown. It adds real competitive energy to the daily grind at practice. Jordan added: “It’s easy to buy in, you love to see it. And he brings a level of consistency Monday through Saturday. You’re just going to get that exact same, ‘Hey this is what we’re going to do, this is what we’re going to improve on today, this is our focus.'”
It’s going to be tough for the Saints to move on from an engine like Payton powering the organization. It was clear last season that his attention for detail wasn’t adequately replaced, and Dennis Allen is going to need to a better job energizing his players and being mindful of those devils in the details that can break a game wide open if he’s going to remain their head coach moving forward. Having charismatic and experienced players like Jordan in the fold helps, but even more pressure goes on the head coach to keep everyone on task. Hopefully Allen’s taken that lesson to heart.
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Cameron Jordan finally found something nice to say about his longtime rival Matt Ryan: ‘The way he gets hit, it’s very respectable’
Getting @camjordan94 to say something nice about Matt Ryan might be the funniest thing we’ve heard all day 😂
📺: @FanDuelTV | @heykayadams | @markingramII pic.twitter.com/4hlaJofcng
— Up & Adams (@UpAndAdamsShow) February 9, 2023
It only took a decade of competing together head-to-head in the NFL’s most heated divisional rivalry, but New Orleans Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan finally found something nice to say about his longtime rival, former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan.
Jordan shared the positives of his favorite punching-bag during a Thursday appearance on Kay Adams’ show alongside his teammate Mark Ingram, who challenged him with complimenting his old foe. Ingram did throw him a lifeline in suggesting other opposing players, but Jordan stuck to his guns.
“I’m going to say something nice about Matt Ryan,” Jordan started, “I think the way he falls has always been graceful. The way he gets hit, it’s very respectable because he makes picturesque moments.”
Jordan grimaced in an example of how some quarterbacks are less-than-aesthetic when taken to the ground, also sharing some common sound effects he’s picked up from the many passers he’s taken down over the years. He won the Saints’ all-time sacks record this season and got a lot of help from Ryan, who he has sacked more times than any other quarterback he’s played against (in fact, Jordan and Ryan share an NFL record for the most sacks by a single defender against a specific passer). Ryan moved on from the Falcons last year, but neither he nor Jordan will ever move on from their rivalry.
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Cameron Jordan performed a musical tribute to Sean Payton at the NFL Honors ceremony, advising his old coach to stay in the AFC:
Cam Jordan singing to Sean Payton 😭 #NFLHonors pic.twitter.com/pPifrjXt3N
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) February 10, 2023
Now there’s something you don’t see every day. Cameron Jordan performed a musical tribute to his old coach Sean Payton at the NFL Honors gala on Thursday night, advising his old coach to stay in the AFC. Complete with backup singers and a fantastic two-piece suit, the big New Orleans Saints defensive end took center stage and, for a time, turned the annual awards ceremony into more of a variety show.
Jordan crooned to the tune of Kelly Clarkson’s iconic single “Breakaway” — with a bemused Clarkson grinning nearby as the event’s emcee — and took a parting shot at Russell Wilson while bemoaning some of his bitter tweets towards Payton since he retired and un-retired to come back and coach the Denver Broncos. It’s just tremendous, and a great display of Jordan’s charisma. His big personality is going to serve him well once he’s ready to hang up his cleats and pursue a media career in earnest.
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Cameron Jordan shared his take on Tom Brady’s second retirement at the Pro Bowl Games on Saturday, also taking a parting shot at Tampa Bay’s future without TB12:
“We’re glad he’s out of the division. Tampa Bay will probably go back to… where Tampa Bay has been.”
8-time Pro Bowler #Saints Cam Jordan (@camjordan94) on Tom Brady retirement + hope he doesn’t see me at Pro Bowl for 3rd straight year b/c he’s at bigger Bowl. For @nflnetwork: pic.twitter.com/57TJmykNhC
— Cameron Wolfe (@CameronWolfe) February 4, 2023
Cameron Jordan might be the best trash talker the New Orleans Saints hae to offer. Jordan shared his take on the second retirement of Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady during an interview with NFL Network’s Cameron Wolfe at the Pro Bowl Games on Saturday, saying: “This time he was able to say he’s putting it up for good, right? Last time there was too many leaks that happened, it was tainted. Let the man retire. We salute him, we wish him the best just in whichever endeavor that is.”
But of course Jordan couldn’t let this spot go without a diss at the upstart Buccaneers. He ended his interview with a parting shot.
“Tampa Bay will probably go back to where Tampa Bay has been,” Jordan chuckled. The Buccaneers finished in third- or fourth-place within the NFC South eight times through the first nine years of Jordan’s Saints career, before Brady arrived in 2020. They only posted a single winning season in that stretch with Jordan’s team achieving a 13-5 record against them.
With Brady out of the picture, Jordan clearly sees Tampa Bay going back into the division’s basement. With the division-rival Atlanta Falcons and Carolina Panthers also rebuilding, this is a golden opportunity for New Orleans to return to the top of the NFC South standings after all four teams finished with 10 losses last year (including the Buccaneers’ one-and-done playoff appearance). They just need to answer the toughest question facing every NFL team: can they find the right quarterback?
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