Ex-Cal DE Cameron Jordan Makes His Pitch for Ex-Cal QB Aaron Rodgers
Former Cal defensive end Cameron Jordan is not afraid of the microphone, and he made a pretty good argument about why former Cal quarterback Aaron Rodgers should come to Jordan's team, the Saints.
Jordan was never on the Cal roster the same time as Rodgers. Rodgers played for Cal in 2003 and 2004, and Jordan did not arrive at Cal until 2007, but Jordan knows what Rodgers would mean to the Saints.
You should understand that Jordan's comments came before the news that the Broncos were hiring Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett as Denver's head coach, placing all the attention on Denver as a possible destination for Rodgers.
Nonetheless, Jordan made a pretty good case that New Orleans should be his destination in an interview on ESPN. (His comments about Rodgers and the Saints start about 5:30 into the video.)
Asked to give his pitch to Rodgers, Jordan said this:
"I've heard he had some rifts with his last head coach [Mike McCarthy], so maybe come pick one out."
That's an interesting thought. The Saints are pretty good team, going 9-8 this past season, and they would have been in the payoffs if the Rams hadn't blown a 17-0 lead against the 49ers in the final regular-season game. The Saints' only real shortcoming since Drew Brees retired after the 2020 season is at quarterback. Jameis Winston and Taysom Hill are OK, but they are probably not Super Bowl-caliber quarterbacks.
New Orleans is looking for a new head coach after Sean Payton announced he is stepping aside, so maybe Rodgers could come to New Orleans and play a role in selecting the next head coach.
"When he gets with Mrs. B, [team owner] Gayle Benson, he gets with Mickey [Loomis, general manager]," Jordan said. "I'm not sure what kind of access top-tier quarterbacks get. I'm just a defensive end. I just worry about hitting the next quarterback.
"Quarterbacks usually have little bit more executive say than defensive players, so I'm just saying that could probably help us out in the long run."
Rodgers complained last offseason he didn't have enough say in transactions in Green Bay, so if he came to New Orleans and was allowed input in the selection of the next head coach, maybe, just maybe . . . OK, maybe not.
Earlier in the interview, Jordan rejected the notion that Rodgers would avoid playing for an AFC team because of all the elite young quarterbacks in that conference.
"Would he be deterred from the AFC? Absolutely not," Jordan said.
The one final aspect of the Jordan interview that was impressive was the fact that Jordan could name the only player who has had more sacks than him over the last 10 years.
"Chandler Jones," Jordan said, without much hesitation.
Jones has 107.5 sacks in that 10-yard span, and Jordan has 106, including 12.5 this past season when Jordan was a Pro Bowl selection for the fifth consecutive season and the seventh time overall.
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Cover photo of Cameron Jordan by Chuck Cook, USA TODAY Sports
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