Cameron Jordan isn't roaming a used car lot in the New Orleans area, but he sure could sell a buyer on the Saints.
Jordan made an appearance on SiriusXM NFL Radio on Monday and couldn't stop raving about his team's potential.
"Absolutely, I'm heading into year 10. I love it," Jordan told hosts Brady Quinn and Kirk Morrison. "I'm super excited about it. You know, there's nothing in me that is telling me that our team isn't close to a championship or being a championship-caliber team if you look at the last three years. You know, playoffs, playoffs, playoffs. Playoffs, NFC Championship, playoffs. This is something that we have to capitalize on.
"You talk about Drew [Brees] coming back, our addition of Jameis Winston. You talk about, you know, we lose Vonn Bell, we bring in Malcolm Jenkins. We go draft an outside linebacker in this Zack Baun kid. You know, Alex Anzalone going to be healthy. There's so many positives on paper, I just want to get back to the field and really see what we have."
What the Saints have is a team that should look mostly familiar to Jordan. Most everyone is back defensively, with the biggest change coming at safety with the aforementioned return of Malcolm after a six-year sabbatical in Philadelphia. Baun is the most notable newcomer, and he's someone who will have to work his way from rotational defender to starter, and only if necessary.
On the offensive side of the ball, this very well could be Brees' final year. Jordan rightly senses the time is now, especially after a season that many felt ended prematurely with New Orleans' upset loss to Minnesota on Wild Card Weekend. The mention of Winston is no mistake, either, as Jordan saw firsthand last season how the Saints needed a reliable backup in the event Brees cannot play.
He now thinks the potential pairing of Brees and Winston could catapult Winston into a new level in the sixth year of his professional career and beyond, which might just help the Saints in 2020.
"I mean, three years ago, we brought in Teddy [Bridgewater] and, you know, Teddy B. had sort of, you know, created his own thing," Jordan recalled. "He was able to step in when Drew went down and went 5-0 when he was down. This year, you know, he goes off to Carolina, we bring in Jameis Winston. I don't know if our window is minimizing. I think we're maximizing everything we have on our table. Now, you know, you talk about Alvin Kamara, Mike [Thomas], guys who are electric playmakers who are young in their career, we're going to capitalize on everything we can as a team.
"Again, so if Drew goes down, now we have Jameis, who you know can throw for over 4,000 yards. You know, can score touchdowns, who has the arm, and now is under, I would say, direct tutelage of one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game. So, you know, now, I'm believing the hype. When Jameis said, 'Hey, you know, if I correct a couple interceptions, I'm going to be the greatest quarterback.' Now, we have the exact tutelage to get him in that realm."
Jordan is sold on his team's chances. Seventeen weeks will tell whether he's right or wrong. If everything goes according to his vision, he might end up seeing the gleam in Winston's old stomping grounds.
