Eight-time Pro Bowl defensive end Cameron Jordan, the New Orleans Saints’ all-time sacks leader and the franchise’s most-capped player in team history, is heading to free agency for the first time in his 15-year NFL career.
That is the word from ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Thursday. Jordan, who recorded 10.5 sacks in 2025, will not reach a new deal with the Saints before the league year opens, and Schefter added that Jordan is “open to leaving New Orleans.”
He will play a 16th NFL season somewhere. The 36-year-old spent every one of his previous 15 seasons in black and gold, making this the first time since his draft class arrived in 2011 that another team could actually sign him.
How New Orleans Saints’ Cap Situation Pushed Jordan Toward the Open Market
Let’s look at math. Jordan’s current contract carries $18.76 million in dead money the moment he walks out the door. That is a real problem for a Saints franchise currently sitting over the 2026 salary cap.
To put the situation plainly, the Saints could actually save cap space by signing Jordan to a new deal rather than letting him leave. That option still sits on the table, but the clock is running out.
New Orleans Saints, Chase Young
NFL New Orleans Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan
Jordan himself addressed this recently. In an interview with TMZ Sports, he said:
“If you get a 10-sack season, if I was 26, I’d be asking for top dollar. Things I’ve never asked for is top dollar. All I’ve ever asked for is to be valued.”
Last offseason, Jordan agreed to a restructured one-year deal worth $6.05 million, a significant pay cut from his prior salary. He described it at season’s end as taking “half off,” and made clear he would not do it again.
New Orleans has Chase Young and Carl Granderson under contract at the edge through at least the next two seasons, which may explain some of the organization’s hesitation to commit fresh money to Jordan at his age.
Eight-time Pro-Bowl DE Cameron Jordan, who has spent his 15-year career in New Orleans and had 10.5 sacks last season, will not have a new deal in place with New Orleans by next week and now will hit free agency for the first time in his NFL career, per sources. Jordan will play… pic.twitter.com/r5Q9sfk3am
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 5, 2026
Jordan’s 10.5-Sack Season Means Other Teams Will Have Serious Interest
NFL star Cameron Jordan's sack triggers massive payday (Image via ESPN)
NFL star Cameron Jordan’s sack triggers massive payday (Image via ESPN)
The question of where Jordan ends up matters to several teams. There will be no shortage of interested suitors given his production last season.
Jordan finished 2025 with 10.5 sacks, reaching double digits for the first time since 2021. It was the seventh time in his career he has hit that mark. He started all 17 regular season games.
The Athletic’s Daniel Popper projected a one-year, $8 million contract for Jordan this offseason. Others have placed his realistic market even higher, considering he is one of only a handful of edge rushers over 35 to post 10-plus sacks in a single season.
Jordan also holds the Saints’ record for most games played in franchise history and was selected to the NFL’s 2010s All-Decade Team. He has career earnings north of nearly $147 million, which gives him the standing to be selective, but he has not suggested retirement is part of the conversation.
Jordan turning 37 in July does not make this a straightforward call for any team. But a player who just recorded 10.5 sacks under a new defensive coordinator, first-year Saints DC Brandon Staley, and is now getting to test the open market for the first time in 15 years, is not an ordinary case.
Wherever Jordan lands, it will be one of the more closely watched free agency moves of this cycle, and the Saints’ decision to let him get to this point will draw scrutiny for as long as it takes to see how things play out.