Cam Jordan isn’t going anywhere.
The New Orleans Saints defensive end announced on social media Wednesday that he’s returning to the team for a 15th season. And as part of that return, the Saints and Jordan reached an agreement on a reworked contract, a source with knowledge of the situation said.
The terms of Jordan’s reworked contract were not immediately known. But the 35-year-old was set to hold a $20 million cap hit next season, leading to the assumption that he and the team would have to address that figure in order for him to stay with the franchise.
Jordan made clear last season that he wanted to keep playing, but he admitted he was unsure whether his time with Saints was coming to an end. The eight-time Pro Bowler saw his playing time dwindle — particularly over the first half of the season, which created tension between him and the coaching staff. But after Dennis Allen was fired in November and interim Darren Rizzi took over, Jordan saw his snaps — and production — increase.
Jordan finished last season with four sacks, all of which were recorded over the final eight games. He finished the year with 565 defensive snaps, good for 48% of the defense’s total. Despite playing less than half the time, Jordan started all 17 games for the Saints.
Drafted 24th overall in 2011, Jordan has become the franchise’s all-time sack leader with 121½ sacks.
Jordan announced his return on Instagram accompanied by a video featuring highlights of his career. On X, he posted a clip from Martin Scorsese’s “The Wolf Of Wall Street” in which Leonardo DiCaprio’s character tells a room of his co-workers that, “I’m not [expletive] leaving!” Jordan accompanied that video with a series of eye emojis.
"The Saints have been the only home I've known, so if you're going to shut that door, you're going to have to shut it for me, because I'm not going to do it to myself," Jordan said in December. "As much as I bleed, I think I only bleed Black and Gold, but if you force me to go bleed somewhere else, a soldier fights wherever, whenever, however."
It remains to be seen how new coach Kellen Moore and his coaching staff plan to deploy Jordan. Last year, the team asked Jordan to play on the inside at defensive tackle in addition to his edge rushing duties — a role that Jordan was unhappy with.
The Saints have addressed their defensive line in the opening days of free agency, trading for defensive tackle Davon Godchaux, re-signing Chase Young, extending Nathan Shepherd and restructuring Khalen Saunders.
New Orleans Saints DE Cam Jordan starts the "Who Dat" chant before the game against the Las Vegas Raiders at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024. (Staff photo by David Grunfeld, The Times-Picayune | NOLA.com)
“He’s still a player,” Moore said of Jordan last month. “He can still impact games. I feel fortunate about that.”