Cam Jordan is not going anywhere, despite being in his mid-30s, having had several injuries that left him a shell of his former self on the field, and having just finished his worst professional season in almost ten years.
Jordan declared, “I love the (New Orleans) Saints too much to retire.” “I adore this locker room—everything about it is wonderful. I can’t give it all I have.”
Jordan does indeed intend to rejoin the Saints for Year 14. However, there were a number of reasons why Year 13 was challenging, not the least of which being that his club missed the playoffs for the third straight year.
Jordan may therefore be returning, but he does not plan to be the same player that competed in 2023. He recalled the situation from Sunday night following the Saints’ victory over the Falcons: he was seated with his family at Nice Guys Nola, which is located off Earhart Boulevard, and he was watching the Bears and Cardinals lose, which ended his team’s chances of making the playoffs.
Jordan may therefore be returning, but he does not plan to be the same player that competed in 2023. He recalled the situation from Sunday night following the Saints’ victory over the Falcons: he was seated with his family at Nice Guys Nola, which is located off Earhart Boulevard, and he was watching the Bears and Cardinals lose, which ended his team’s chances of making the playoffs.
Jordan remarked, “That s**t sucks. I became a fan.” “I would like to continue playing football as much as I am a fan. And I realized that I wanted more after how I felt on Sunday night.
Jordan’s offseason plans will be a little different this year. Let’s start with his physique: Jordan played with a severely sprained ankle for the last six games before re-spraying it in a new fashion. He was also coping with a neck herniated disc.
All of these problems got worse, according to Jordan. He began overcompensating after injuring his ankle, which resulted in some knee problems. But he still doesn’t want this to come out as justification. Jordan scoffed and answered, “Why?” in response to the question of whether he could go into specifics about what he was working on.
“Is it really that important? Who gives a damn about spilt milk? stated Jordan. “I’m fortunate enough not to have a serious injury that would prevent me from playing. Physical harm is inevitable, and the question is how much you desire it. I have a reason why I bleed for this. Sometimes s**t hurts, and I love that.
There will be days when you’ll think, “Gosh, this feels like work today.” Today feels like work since you’re hurt and can’t give it your all. However, you adore those days the most. To what extent do I enjoy this game more if I can survive today?
Jordan has long been lauded for his durability — not only in terms of being available to play on Sundays, but to play remarkably high snap counts for a player on the defensive line. By the end of the season, he was a rotational player who often came off the field on third downs — a situation he dominated for the majority of his career.
Coach Dennis Allen described Jordan as a tough player to evaluate because of the injuries he dealt with, but in the same breath he acknowledged that the team has to get more out of him.
While Allen didn’t allude to this directly, Jordan is currently set to count more than $23 million against the team’s 2024 salary cap, which is a price tag that demands some impact from Jordan as a rusher.
“Cam’s at a point right now where he’s still a very good run player,” Allen said. “I think we’ve got to look at how we increase his productivity from a pass rush standpoint. … I think that’s what we’ll look at. How can we help him improve in that area as we go forward?”
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