QUINCY (WGEM) - Khalen Saunders started Sunday afternoon’s NFL preseason game against the Jacksonville Jaguars as a member of the New Orleans Saints.
By Sunday night, the former Western Illinois University defensive tackle swapped jerseys as he was traded by the Saints to the Jaguars for offensive lineman Luke Fortner.
The Jaguars are fortifying their defensive line by acquiring Saunders after the two teams played to a 17-17 tie in New Orleans during the second week of preseason action earlier Sunday.
Saunders, who played at WIU from 2014-18, started the game for the Saints, but finished the day as a member of the opposing team.
Saunders, 29, recorded no stats in Sunday’s game. New Orleans had listed him as the backup to Davon Godchaux, whom the Saints acquired in an offseason trade with the New England Patriots.
Saunders addressed the trade late Sunday on his X account, Bink Saunders @khalenNOTkaylen, writing:
“Wow🙏🏾 #DUUUUUVALLLLLLLLL”
(Note: “Duuuval!” is a rallying cry for Jaguars fans to show support for the team. The chant comes from Duval, the county in which Jacksonville is located.)
Saunders, whose brother Kameron is a professional dancer best known for his role in Taylor Swift’s recent “The Eras Tour,” totaled 43 tackles, three tackles for loss, two sacks, an interception, and three pass breakups in 13 games last season for New Orleans.
He also notably intercepted a pass from former teammate Patrick Mahomes during a 26-13 loss at Kansas City last season on “Monday Night Football.”
It was an incredible play by the 6-foot, 324-pound Saunders, who recorded the longest interception return by a 300-plus-pound player in 17 years. He reached a top speed of 15.79 miles per hour -- the third-fastest speed by a ballcarrier that weighs over 320 pounds since 2016.
His time with the Saints comes to an end after two seasons. He finished his stint with 100 tackles, four tackles for losses, four pass deflections, two sacks, and one interception in 30 games.
He is entering the final year of his contract, due to make $1.3 million in base salary. Trading Saunders now saves the Saints that $1.3 million against the salary cap in 2025 and more than $2.2 million in 2026.
After winning two Super Bowl rings and an AFC championship with the Kansas City Chiefs, Saunders signed a three-year, $14.5 million contract in March with the New Orleans before the 2023 campaign.
Drafted in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft, Saunders played for the 2020 and 2023 Super Bowl champion Chiefs. The 2021 Chiefs also played in the Super Bowl but lost to Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
During the 2023 Super Bowl, Saunders recorded two tackles and a sack during the Chiefs’ 38-35 victory over Philadelphia in Super Bowl LVII.
In four years as a Chief after being drafted in the third round in 2019, Saunders played in 38 games and recorded 81 tackles (three for loss), 4.5 sacks, and a pair of passes broken up. The veteran has 10 quarterback hits in his career, including eight that came in just this past season alone.
Saunders, who attended high school at Parkway Central in Chesterfield, Mo., received just one NCAA Div. I offer, and that was from WIU. But he became a FCS All-American, recording 34.5 tackles for loss, 18 sacks, four forced fumbles, and 205 total tackles during his career.
He also saw some time on offense, scoring a rushing and receiving touchdown.
Fortner, 27, was a third-round pick of the Jaguars in 2022 out of Kentucky. He has played in 51 regular-season games, starting his first 34 but serving as a reserve in 17 games in 2024. He was the team’s starting center in 2022, when he also started both playoff games.
_Copyright 2025 WGEM. All rights reserved._