Cam Jordan said he went back to the New Orleans Saints locker room recently to grab a few items “on the off chance” he doesn’t return to the black and gold next season.
That’s how his free agency has gone.
Jordan remains unsigned after hitting the market last week, and after appearing on former teammate Terron Armstead’s podcast, the 36-year-old said he has three options that he and his wife have talked over.
“There’s a set value I have in my mind,” Jordan said. “Value is to the eye of the beholder at this point. Value means position, rotation, — monetary, sure, but more along the lines of, ‘If I want to get 10, 12, 13 sacks this next season, then I need to be in the best position to do so.’”
That value, he said, could be in New Orleans. Or it could be elsewhere. Jordan, who has been living in his native Arizona this offseason, said he’d even consider a cold-weather city for “the right price”
Jordan said he’d love to stay with the Saints, but wouldn’t just stay so that he could be with one team his entire career.
“As much as I love the city of New Orleans, as much as I want to be in the city of New Orleans … if things don’t add up to what I consider as value, I understand the business nature of it all,” Jordan said. “In my mind, of course you see guys my age re-sign to the team because that’s the only team they’ve ever been with and you’re like, ‘Hell yeah. We love that.’ But that’s to his situation. That may not be to my situation.”
Jordan is coming off his best season in years as he led the Saints with 10 ½ sacks, his highest output since 2021. That has seemingly led to a complicated negotiation after Jordan took a significant pay cut last offseason. He said in January that he couldn’t “do that again.”
There’s also the matter of playing time. Jordan ranks 17th all-time with 132 sacks, but wants to climb higher up the list to solidify his Hall of Fame credentials. The Saints have used Jordan as a rotational pass-rusher the last two seasons, and depending on what else the team does in the offseason, there’s a chance his snaps could decrease further if he were to return.
“I know what I want to do, what I want to accomplish,” Jordan said. “If that doesn’t line up (with the Saints), that’s fine as well. Just because I love the city and the organization, doesn’t mean the organization or the city has to love me back.
“The city has and always will, but I’m just simply saying.”
That said, Jordan sounded as if he were a fan of what the Saints have done in free agency. Asked to put on his “media hat,” Jordan said he thinks the Saints have had the best offseason so far. He praised the additions of linebacker Kaden Elliss, running back Travis Etienne and guard David Edwards.
“They got some great additions,” Jordan said.
But tellingly, since he’s not under contract, Jordan referred to the Saints as “they,” not “we.”