The New Orleans Saints’ pass-rush problems were so pronounced last season that they left the team’s brass openly wondering whether they Saints needed to reevaluate what they looked for at the position. Did they need to find pass rushers who were smaller and quicker?
Then the Saints signed Chase Young — a pass rusher who checks all of the boxes of their previous prototypes. A philosophy change, it appears, isn’t in place just yet.
So where does that leave the pass rush for 2024? Let’s look at the team’s defensive ends, a group that is mostly the same as a year ago outside of Young’s addition.
Current roster:
- Cam Jordan
- Carl Granderson
- Chase Young
- Payton Turner
- Isaiah Foskey
- Tanoh Kpassagnon (injured, will miss at least the start of the season)
- Niko Lalos
- Trajan Jeffcoat
Burning question
Can Jordan return to form, and how much does he have left?
Despite all of the attention given to Young’s signing, the hopes of having an above-average pass rush next season may depend on how much Jordan has left in the tank. The eight-time Pro Bowler is coming off the worst season of his career, a campaign that was hampered by an ankle injury over nearly the last half of the year. And Jordan, who had two sacks in 2023, will be 35 when next season begins.
What can we expect from a 35-year-old pass rusher? Jordan’s 117½ sacks over 13 seasons averages out to roughly nine per year. Since sacks became an official stat in 1982, according to Stathead, there have been only 23 instances of a player reaching at least nine sacks when 35 or older. The feat has been done just five times since Jordan began his career in 2011 and not since 2017. Those five times were:
- 37-year-old Julius Peppers in 2017 (11½ sacks with the Carolina Panthers).
- 36-year-old Terrell Suggs in 2017 (11 sacks with the Baltimore Ravens).
- 35-year-old Cameron Wake in 2017 (10½ sacks with the Miami Dolphins).
- 35-year-old Peppers in 2015 (10½ sacks with the Green Bay Packers).
- 35-year-old John Abraham in 2013 (11½ sacks with the Arizona Cardinals).
The most optimistic parallel for Jordan could be Hall of Famer Michael Strahan. In 2006, a 35-year-old Strahan had only three sacks before dealing with a foot injury that limited him to nine games. The future “Good Morning America” host came back the following year with nine sacks (and his team won the Super Bowl).
It isn’t a perfect comparison, however. Unlike Strahan in 2006, Jordan missed only one game in 2023 after hurting his ankle in late November against the Atlanta Falcons. The difficult part in assessing Jordan is that it’s hard to tell how much of his decline was because of that injury and how much was because of his age.
Bold prediction
Even with history not on his side, Jordan will lead the Saints in sacks next season.
Call it a hunch, but Jordan is a special player, and special players find ways to defy the odds. The defensive end is one of 20 players to have at least 115 sacks through the first 13 years of his career. Thirteen of those 20 had at least one season past age 35 in which he had at least five sacks. Jordan can still be productive, even if he doesn’t end up leading the Saints in sacks.
Before the ankle injury, Jordan’s underlying numbers weren’t terrible, either. Yes, the sacks weren’t there, but his 42 pressures prior to getting hurt were more than what he had in 2022 (37), according to Pro Football Focus. Jordan also underwent surgery this offseason to address his lingering ankle issue.
The Saints almost certainly will try to manage Jordan’s workload in 2024, which could keep him fresher when asked to rush the passer. New Orleans loves to deploy a pass-rushing rotation, and Jordan hasn't played 80% of the snaps in a season since 2019. With Granderson, Young, Turner and Foskey, Jordan may not be asked to do as much as in recent years. But at his end-of-season news conference, Jordan was confident he could bounce back.
“I love the Saints too much to retire,” he said. “I love this locker room; I love everything about it. I've got too much juice to give."