Saints Legend Cam Jordan Finishing Year With A Flourish

One Saints legend has picked up his play down the stretch to help spark the team's noticeable improvement.

New Orleans Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan (94) reacts to intercepting Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield / Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

New Orleans Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan is one of the best players in franchise history. Jordan joined the Saints as the 24th overall choice in the 2011 NFL Draft out of California.

Jordan had a quiet rookie year as a pass rusher (1 sack) but showed impressive ability as a run defender. In a short time, Jordan would develop into one of the franchise's most iconic players.

Over an 11-year stretch between 2012 and 2022, Jordan had six seasons with double-digit sack totals. His 114.5 sacks in that span were among the highest in the league, helping him earn eight Pro Bowl honors. More than just a disruptive pass rusher, Jordan was also an elite run defender, making him arguably the best all-around defensive end in the NFL.

Jordan, now 35 and in his 14th season, has slowed a bit in recent years. In 2023, his two sacks were his fewest since his rookie year. This offseason, the Saints signed 2020 second overall pick Chase Young to team with Carl Granderson on the edge. As a result, Jordan has played almost a secondary role for the first time in his career.

Over the first nine games of this year, Jordan averaged just 27 defensive snaps per contest. This is a player who averaged playing 85% of his team's defensive snaps through his first 13 years, an incredible total for a defensive lineman. In those first nine games, Jordan had an interception but was held without a sack and had zero tackles for loss with only two QB pressures.

New Orleans Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan (94) tackles Washington quarterback Jayden Daniels (5) / Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images

After a loss at Carolina on November 3, the Saints fired coach Dennis Allen. In the five games since, the entire team has shown improvement. Included among those improvements is the play of Jordan, who has helped spark a defensive turnaround.

Over the five weeks since Allen was fired, Jordan has averaged 40 defensive snaps per game. More importantly, his production has also drastically increased. In those five outings, Jordan has three sacks with six QB hits and eight pressures.

Against Washington last Sunday, Jordan recorded two sacks and three pressures to go along with his season-best six tackles. The two sacks gave Jordan 28 multi-sack games for his career, surpassing Hall of Famer Rickey Jackson for the most in Saints history.

New Orleans Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan (94) leaps over a blocker to sack Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins (18) / Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

Over an incredible career with New Orleans, Jordan has 120.5 sacks, 232 QB hits, 156 tackles for loss, 26 fumbles forced or recovered, and 3 interceptions. He is second among active players for sacks and is 28th in NFL history in that category.

Jordan is already the Saints all-time career leader in sacks. He needs just 2.5 more to tie Rickey Jackson for the team's all-time mark in 'unofficial' sacks. Jackson had 8 sacks in his rookie year of 1981, but the NFL did not officially track the statistic until the following year.

Cam Jordan is a Hall of Famer, perhaps even first-ballot, whenever he does decide to call it a career. However, his play down the stretch of this year proves he still has some quality football left.