As the New Orleans Saints stare down a Week 17 showdown at the Caesars Superdome, it represents finality and some big questions.
When the Saints face the Raiders, it'll be the final time the black and gold take the field in their iconic home stadium. There will be another NFL game played in the building when the Super Bowl descends in February, but the Saints have been eliminated from postseason contention.
But will it be the last game on that turf for several Saints veterans who have had their share of better times? That remains to be seen. The eldest statesman on the roster is Cam Jordan as he closes out his 14th NFL season. Cam said he intends to keep playing but knows nothing is certain.
"It’d be news to me if I wasn’t, at the same time you never know," Jordan said this week, though making it clear that if he did return there'd be no interest in playing defensive tackle, something he's done this year at one of the highest rates in his career amid a defensive end group led by younger players in Chase Young and Carl Granderson. Jordan has seen his role increase since the team opted for a coaching change earlier this season and has responded with three sacks and his typically stout run defense.
"I wouldn’t say I’m happy about [playing more defensive tackle]. At the same time that’s something that I’d say I’ve gotten better at over this year. For it not to be my spot, it has been my spot," Jordan said. "That’s something that will definitely have to be addressed in the offseason."
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The Saints will have cap constraints going into next season, currently projected to be more than $60 million over the cap and with a slew of contracts that aren't build to shed for cap relief. But a lot could come down to what happens at leadership positions. The Saints have to make a decision at head coach, a spot that's been manned by Darren Rizzi since Week 10. Sticking with him could mean retaining a lot of the current build. A new head coach could have an entirely new vision.
The Saints have a handful of fan favorites who, if nothing else, are approaching decisions on whether to continue their careers. Jordan is one of them at age 35. Linebacker Demario Davis is 35 in Year 13, and Tyrann Mathieu is 32 in Year 12. Both players signed 2-year extensions ahead of the season. Despite all the talk about age as an issue, those players have combined to miss just one game in a season that's been as injury-plagued as any in recent memory.
The playoffs aren't in the picture, but all three of those players will be on the field again in Week 17. The Saints also will have questions surrounding players entering the latter stages of their current contracts such as Derek Carr, and a host of players on the final year of their deal or closing out 1-year deals such as TE Juwan Johnson and Chase Young. One aging star in Marshon Lattimore has already been shipped out in a trade, while another hasn't played this season and could opt to retire in Ryan Ramczyk.
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"When someone puts the film on and watches this week’s game against the Raiders, there’s not a footnote at the bottom that says ‘these are the circumstances.’ That’s their body of work," Rizzi said, "That’s their professional resume and they’re putting that out there on film and so no different than the coaching staff, the players it’s the same thing. So they’re gonna get evaluated whether young, old or in the middle somewhere, their video resume is their video resume and so if someone is gonna watch that film, whether it’s in this building or somewhere else."
Still, Jordan will be the first to admit this season has been among the more frustrating in his career. A fourth straight playoff miss is the longest stretch in his career since entering the NFL as a first-round pick out of Cal in 2011. Could a year 15 come elsewhere? That remains to be seen. What doesn't is what the city of New Orleans has meant to Jordan, and vice versa. If this is his last chance to walk out onto the Superdome turf, he intends to make it memorable.
“There’s two games left and there’s still football to be played. You’re doing it for the love of the game," Jordan said. "If you don’t have love for the game then you should’ve never stepped on the field in the beginning.”