Take a bow, Cameron Jordan. The personable New Orleans Saints defensive end has spent the week leading up to Super Bowl LVII making the rounds on Radio Row and sharing his perspective on everything going on around his team — including its former members who have moved on to other opportunities in the NFL.
And no former Saint has made more headlines as of late than Sean Payton, now the head coach of the Denver Broncos. Jordan reflected on his relationship with his old coach and noted that he and Payton only ever interacted much when things were either going really, really well or really badly on defense, given Payton’s background as an offensive coach.
“‘Cam, what the (expletive) are we doing? Step it up,'” Jordan recalled hearing from Payton on The Pivot Podcast with hosts Channing Crowder, Fred Taylor, and Ryan Clark. He continued with his response, “Hey relax. I’ve got this. Or sometimes I’m like, ‘I’ll try and get this.’ You didn’t draft me anybody, so we’ve got a whole lot of nobodies. You did this. But okay, I’ll make it work. We need more, but what did you give me? What did you give me to squeeze more out of?”
Hey, that’s a bar. Payton earned that riff given his spotty streak of defensive draft picks in the years following Jordan’s arrival. All four defenders the Saints drafted with Jordan in 2011 — Martez Wilson, Johnny Patrick, Greg Romeus, and Nate Bussey — were out of town by 2013. Of the 13 defenders the Saints drafted from 2013 to 2015 (Payton was suspended for the 2012 season), only one signed a second contract with the team: P.J. Williams. That includes first-round picks like Kenny Vaccaro and Stephone Anthony, neither of whom are in the NFL anymore.
It’s a good thing Payton acknowledged those defensive issues and brought Jeff Ireland in to lead the college scouting department in 2016, followed by sweeping coaching changes on that side of the ball in 2017. Those moves empowered Dennis Allen to rebuilt the unit from the ground up, which ushered in the greatest three-year streak in team history and finally surrounded Jordan with the talent he needed to get his team a stop when they needed it. That catapulted his career to new heights and set him up for a smooth transition to a media gig of his own whenever he wants it. For now, Jordan is busy venting some frustrations and remaining optimistic that the players and coaches can get New Orleans back where they want to go with Payton working for another team.
