NEW ORLEANS -- Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan will become a free agent when the new league begins next week, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter.
Jordan, 36, has played 15 seasons and became the Saints franchise sack leader at the end of the 2022 season. He has 132 career sacks, all with the Saints.
Jordan's contract will automatically void if he does not have a new deal in place before the new league year begins at 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday. If that happens, the Saints will absorb $18.76 million of dead money against their 2026 salary cap. If the Saints sign him to a new contract after that deadline, the dead money from the previous contract and any money from the new contract would both count against the salary cap.
Jordan reworked his contract last year to decrease his base pay while adding incentives for sacks and playing time. Jordan maxed out his incentives of $2 million for sacks and finished the season with 10.5 sacks, his most since the 2021 season. He said in January that he did not want to take a similar deal again this year.
"The Saints have done nothing but show that they want me to be here. Now, at what price? Some would say half off this last year," Jordan said in January. "Can't do that again."
Jordan has said several times over the past few years that he would like to finish his career in New Orleans.
"I mean, the moment I got drafted black and gold, I figured I'd die in gold and black. However you put it, Cam Jordan and 'black and gold' have been synonymous. And I've always worked to have it stay that way," Jordan said.
Jordan was selected by the Saints in the first round of the 2011 draft. He started 242 out of 243 possible games in 15 seasons in New Orleans, missing only one game because of injury in his career after fracturing his orbital bone in 2022.
