In a span of just two days, the New Orleans Saints were hit by three retirement announcements. Former All-Pro tight end Jimmy Graham kicked things off, announcing he’d soon make his retirement official as a member of the team that drafted him back in 2010. Louisiana native Tyrann Mathieu made his retirement decision just hours later, and that was followed by second-year seldom-used tight end Dallin Holker making the call to end his pro football career.
Understandably, this run of retirements would prompt those in New Orleans to wonder what might be next for the oldest and longest-tenured player on the Saints roster. Cameron Jordan made his Saints debut in 2011 and is just three games away from breaking Drew Brees’ franchise record of 228 games with the team. But with Father Time chasing him down like Jordan has so many opposing quarterbacks, the questions were bound to be coming his way.
Fans in New Orleans can rejoice, though. The longtime fan favorite made it clear that he has no interest in making it a fourth retirement before the season begins.
“Hell naw,” Jordan said on July 23 when asked if he was beginning to think about his own retirement, according to Rashad Milligan of Nola.com. “I don’t know what that’s got to do with me. I say more power to them, congrats to them. I still have people I want to hit, so until this gets out my blood, I can’t go home with this type of energy. I couldn’t imagine waking up and not heading towards football.”
Cameron Jordan Confident in Saints Coaching Staff
Even compared to members of the Saints coaching staff, Jordan is the elder statesman of the team. Consider, Jordan (36) is closer in age to new Saints head coach Kellen Moore (37) and defensive coordinator Brandon Staley (42) than he is to most of his teammates on the Saints defense.
“He’s a quarterback. Have you ever heard me talk about quarterbacks? They’re really good people. So he’s smiling, but in my mind, he’s scheming,” Jordan told reporters when asked about the cool demeanor of the first year head coach. “There’s some menace behind his smiling, because he’s thinking about how best to take advantage of the situation at hand.”
Staley, who coached with Moore in Los Angeles, has seemingly already earned the support of the Saints all-time leader in sacks as well.
“There’s a consistency to the standard,” Jordan said of his new defensive coordinator. “He’s already talking about pursuit. He’s already talking about effort, he’s talking about mentality. He’s talking about, ‘Hey, we’re going to play a physical, fast brand of football.’ And you can buy into that.”
Jordan Gets Wish Granted on New Saints Uniforms
Jordan was in a noticeably good mood after the first day of Saints training camp, and if it weren’t because he’s returning to New Orleans for a 15th NFL season, it could be because the league and the franchise granted his wish this offseason.
Ask, and you shall receive, Cam. Sure, it might require a five year wait, but as the saying goes, it’s better late than never. On the eve of training camp, the Saints announced that they’d be bringing back the gold on white uniforms for the first time since 2002.
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