The New Orleans Saints will have no shortage of leadership voices in the 2026 season, nine of them, in fact.
The team announced its team captains -- voted on by the players -- for the upcoming season, and it's a group that looks markedly different from a year ago. We break it down below.
OFFENSE
QB TYLER SHOUGH
Notes: Last year the Saints were the only team with season-long captains that didn't have a quarterback in that group. The reason was obvious. The team was having a quarterback competition. Spencer Rattler won the job, but the writing on the wall was pretty clear that it would be Tyler Shough in that role eventually. That was far from the case heading into Year 2. Shough has taken on the role of a leader and he now has the 'C' that indicates it on his jersey. The QB has to lead, and he's embraced that role. Let's see if he can win with it.
C ERIK McCOY
Notes: No surprise here. McCoy has been a team captain for the past several years and he's the clear leader of that group. Still, it's difficult to lead when you're not on the field and the Saints' star center has been limited to 7 games in each of the past two seasons. Which leads me to...
LG DAVID EDWARDS
Notes: The Saints haven't been shy about making newcomers team captains the last several years, and this time it's Edwards who earned that distinction. It's not exactly a surprise when you watch him operate and how he carries himself. The guy is a leader. It is unusual, however, to see two players on the same starting OL land as captains. There will be no WRs, TEs or RBs at the captain dinners this year.
DEFENSE & SPECIAL TEAMS
DE CAM JORDAN
Notes: Duh. This was about as obvious of a choice as there is to make. I'd be concerned if Cam was left off the list. He might as well have picked up his 'C' patch when he signed the contract.
S JUSTIN REID
Notes: Reid was a captain last year and it's no surprise he landed on this list again. The Saints have a lot of young players in key secondary roles and Reid sets an excellent example to follow.
DE CHASE YOUNG
Notes: This one is kind of like Edwards in that I'm not surprised that Young landed as a captain, just that the Saints doubled up at one position. Young is, in my opinion, the best player on this football team and I get concerned if the stars aren't clear leaders. This should be Chase's defense for a while and it's a good sign he's viewed this way in the locker room.
LB KADEN ELLISS
Notes: Another newcomer, sort of. Elliss may have signed here in the most recent free agency, but was a former Saints draft pick and has been a captain before -- albeit with the Falcons. The second Elliss was signed he made the most sense as a captain, but I wasn't sure if Pete Werner's seniority with the Saints might win out. Good pick.
LB CHRIS RUMPH
Notes: The Saints typically have two special teams captains and that's how I'm classifying this one. I don't know exactly what Rumph's role will be in the main defense, but he's going to be a key piece to Phil Galiano's crew.
LS ZACH WOOD
Notes: The eternal one, the Saints have had the good fortune to hand the long snapper role to Zach Wood for the past decade and they've never once had to really think about it since. That's all you can ask for. Zach is a leader of that special teams group and he was an obvious pick, again.
