A year after Philip Rivers returned to the NFL at the age of 44, could Drew Brees do it at 47?
Asked on Bussin’ With The Boys if he could still make it happen, Brees said his throwing arm is so shot after his long NFL career that he now throws better with his left arm.
“I would know where to throw it, I just don’t know if I could get it there,” Brees said. “That’s one lingering effect from the shoulder surgery. I don’t throw with my right arm anymore. I actually throw left handed. I started doing that toward the end of my career with my kids, because I’d come home after a long day of practice, I didn’t have anything left in my right arm, but the boys wanted to play catch so I’d throw left handed. I’m pretty mean inside 30 with this left arm.”
Few arms have thrown as many footballs as Brees’ right arm, as he retired with more than 10,000 NFL pass attempts, plus another 2,000 or so in high school and college, and many thousands in practice. Now his left arm is getting the work — but not at a level that would allow him to play as a 47-year-old.
Saints Clips
If/when the NFL explores whether a Terrelle Pryor-style suspension should be imposed on quarterback Brendan Sorsby after the supplemental draft, the Kayshon Boutte precedent points to no punishment.
The Hunter Dekkers precedent does, too.
Dekkers, who re-signed with the Saints this week, missed the entire 2023 college football season after losing his NCAA eligibility for betting on one of his team’s games. With his NCAA eligibility permanently vacated, Dekkers played for Iowa Western Community College in 2024 before entering the draft. The NFL imposed no roadblocks to his professional career, before or after the 2025 draft.
After going undrafted, Dekkers spent most of the 2025 season with the Saints. He played for the Houston Gamblers of the UFL in 2026.
While at Iowa State, Dekkers had made more than 350 bets on his mother’s DraftKings account. In 2021, he made a $15 wager on Iowa State to beat Oklahoma State. Dekkers did not play in the game.
He eventually pleaded guilty to underage gambling in Iowa.
“I wasn’t throwing games, I wasn’t shaving points, and I would never do that,” Dekkers told ESPN last year, in the weeks before the 2025 draft. “There was never any intent behind any of these bets. We weren’t trying to make money. We were just treating it like a video game, in a sense.”
That’s the basic reality of an age in which gambling has become legalized — and normalized. The ads are everywhere. It’s inescapable. Sports fans are constantly bombarded with picks and parlays and the presumption that betting is fun. It’s very easy for anyone to pick up a phone, open an app, and press a few buttons.
Everyone can eat the forbidden fruit, expect the players who are watering the tree. There inevitably will be some that take a little taste, or more. Not to get rich. Just to chase that tiny thrill of vicarious victory.
Dekkers obviously paid the price at the college level. Sorsby did, too. The NFL’s decision not to suspend Dekkers or Boutte should lead to the same result with Sorsby.
There’s no guarantee it will. The five-game suspension of Terrelle Pryor still lingers, 15 years later. As to Sorsby, the league will do whatever it wants to do.
Given what the NFL didn’t do to Kayshon Boutte and Hunter Dekkers, the NFL shouldn’t do anything to Brendan Sorsby.
The Saints will be adding two of their former players to the franchise’s Hall of Fame during the 2026 season.
The team announced that running back Mark Ingram and offensive tackle Terron Armstead will be honored at an induction ceremony at one of the team’s home games.
Ingram was a first-round pick in 2011, played for the Saints through 2018 and then returned to play his final two seasons in New Orleans before retiring after the 2022 season. Ingram ranks second in Saints history with 6,500 rushing yards and 52 rushing touchdowns.
Armstead was a third-round selection in 2013 and remained with the Saints until 2021. He started 102 regular season and playoff games during that time and was selected to three Pro Bowls.
The UFL special teams player of the year is now a member of the Saints.
New Orleans announced the signing of kicker Tanner Brown on Wednesday. Brown won the award while helping Louisville to a league title and he became the first pro kicker in any league to hit a pair of field goals from at least 60 yards in one game.
The Saints also signed quarterback Hunter Dekkers and wide receiver Jalen Moreno-Cropper. They played together for Houston during the 2026 UFL season and Dekkers spent last season on the practice squad in New Orleans. Moreno-Cropper played in three games for the Cowboys last season.
Defensive tackle Coziah Izzard, cornerback Dashawn Jones, kicker Mason Shipley, and wide receiver Damien Alford were waived in corresponding moves.
Defensive end Cam Jordan officially returned to the Saints on Tuesday by signing a one-year deal that he indicated will be his final contract as an NFL player.
If that’s the case, it will mean Jordan spends his entire 16-year career with the same team. In a press conference on Tuesday, Jordan said that the prospect of doing that loomed large in conversations with General Manager Mickey Loomis and helped him get over “a couple of bumps” in the negotiating road.
“What it comes down to is lifestyle,” Jordan said, via the team’s website. “It’s the idea that I could have played for the same team for my entire career. The loyalty streak has always run deep with me, and I think a couple of years ago me and Mickey sat down and it was like, ‘Look, man, the way you’ve played, the way you’ve handled yourself, you’ll always have a job here.’ Now, it may not be what I think I’m worth or whatever it is, but it’s always been the idea that we’ve had an open line of communication. This is where I wanted to be, and [I] got back here.”
Jordan’s legacy as a Saints great was secure with or without this year’s contract, but going out as a lifelong member of the team will only strengthen his place in the franchise’s history.
Saints wide receiver Chris Olave has not played or fully practiced since Week 17 of last season. He missed the Week 18 game against the Falcons with a blood clot in his lung.
During the team’s offseason program, Olave has done only individual work.
Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football reports that Olave will get off blood thinners on June 29, clearing the way for Olave to be cleared for all football activities.
“Everything to this point is going exactly as planned,” Underhill reports.
Olave, 25, caught a career-high 100 passes for 1,163 yards and nine touchdowns. He has topped 1,000 yards in three of his first four seasons.
Aaron Rodgers isn’t the only veteran player who knows the upcoming season will be his last.
Defensive end Cameron Jordan confirmed that he’s coming back to the Saints for 2026 with a video posted to social media that also includes the words, “one final season.”
That’s a clear indication that Jordan, who turns 37 in July, plans to retire after this year.
The No. 24 overall pick of the 2011 draft, Jordan has spent his entire career with New Orleans. He became the franchise leader in sacks back in 2023 and has extended his lead, posting 132.0 over the course of his career. He registered 10.5 last season.
Jordan is also the Saints’ all-time leader in games played at 243, surpassing the 228 played by quarterback Drew Brees over 15 seasons.
The Saints will begin their 2026 season with two games on the road against Detroit and Baltimore. The club will have two of its last three regular-season matchups at home, playing the Cardinals in Week 16 and the division-rival Bucs in Week 18.
Cam Jordan is back for at least one more ride.
According to multiple reports, Jordan and the Saints are finalizing a one-year deal to bring him back to the club for 2026.
This is an expected move, as Jordan was reportedly set to visit with the organization at the start of minicamp.
Jordan, who turns 37 in July, has spent his entire career with the Saints. The club selected him at No. 24 overall back in 2011 and he has been a mainstay on the team’s defense ever since. He’s started nearly every game since then, missing just one in 2022.
An eight-time Pro Bowler, Jordan has tallied 132.0 sacks 175 tackles for loss, and 248 quarterback hits in his career.
Last season, he reached double-digit sacks for the first time since 2021, tallying 10.5 in 17 games. He finished the year with 15 TFLs and 15 QB hits.
Free agent Cam Jordan is meeting with the Saints on Tuesday to discuss a potential return, his former teammate, Terron Armstead, said on “The Set.”
Matthew Paras of nola.com reports that the sides have made progress in contract talks after General Manager Mickey Loomis has met with Jordan on multiple occasions this offseason.
The Saints begin their mandatory minicamp Tuesday.
Jordan, 36, became a free agent in March, and while he has expressed interest in returning to New Orleans, he also said he was open to the idea of playing elsewhere.
The Saints added veteran pass rushers Tyree Wilson and Anfernee Jennings, but Jordan made 10.5 sacks last season. It was his first double-digit sack season since 2021.
He has 132 sacks in 15 seasons.
Coach Kellen Moore said last week that the team had no timeline for getting a deal with Jordan.
“[We’re] here to help in any possible way,” Moore said, via Paras. “We know what he means to this organization and this city, so if the opportunity presents itself and he feels comfortable and ready to go, then we’ll be ready to rock and roll.”
Saints wide receiver Chris Olave missed the Week 18 game against the Falcons with a blood clot in his lung. Five months later, he is still waiting for a return to all football activities.
Olave is not fully participating in the offseason workouts, and coach Kellen Moore said Wednesday that Olave’s workload is being monitored because of the clot.
“He hasn’t been able to do the team activities obviously throughout OTAs,” Moore said, via Matthew Paras of nola.com.
Olave, 25, caught a career-high 100 passes for 1,163 yards and nine touchdowns. He has topped 1,000 yards in three of his first four seasons.
