The New Orleans Saints picked up a key win on Sunday over the Cleveland Browns, stopping a two-point conversion attempt in overtime to keep New Orleans in the NFC South Division race.
Week 9’s action was particularly key, because the NFL trade deadline is on Tuesday, and a loss on Sunday may have made the Saints heavy sellers.
They could still make deals, and actually have already made one on Monday in trading Davon Godchaux to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
But there are plenty of players who will be sticking around for the rest of the season in the Big Easy trying to see if they can make a playoff push.
Cameron Jordan almost certainly is one of those guys. He’s a career-long Saints star and a respected leader.
It just turns out Jordan’s playing time might decline going forward, if Sunday was any indication.
Cameron Jordan’s Limited Playing Time
Jordan played just 12 snaps on Sunday despite the game going to overtime.
That was his fewest snap total in about two years.
And after he missed a potential sack of Shedeur Sanders, Jordan got just four more plays from that point on.
The Saints played 73 defensive snaps, so Jordan’s 12 snaps worked out to 16% of the plays.
It was the same amount of action given to Godchaux, who was traded less than 24 hours after the game ended.
Cameron Jordan Question
It is fair to at least ask if Jordan hung on too long.
The Saints clearly don’t think he’s making a huge difference at this point, despite him being a player who for basically his whole career could impact the opposing offense early and often.
Jordan just isn’t the player he once was anymore, and in this past offseason, it wasn’t a given that he’d keep playing. He didn’t retire, though, and the Saints were happy to get their leader back.
It just appears they might be moving Jordan into more of a leadership role and less of a playing one going forward.
The only potential twist here is to wonder whether the Saints would trade Jordan. It seems bold and unlikely, but until Tuesday’s deadline passes, it can’t be totally ruled out.
Saints’ Cameron Jordan Gets Brutal Reality Check From Shedeur Sanders