With the bye week now here for the New Orleans Saints, now is a time to look back at the season and evaluate.
The Saints aren’t where they want to be in the standings. That much is obvious. New Orleans is 2-8 on the season, but is coming off a much-needed win over the Carolina Panthers in Week 10. With seven games left in the season, the Saints don’t have much of a shot at a playoff spot, but there will be things to watch for.
The progression of rookie quarterback Tyler Shough will be what’s talked about the most, but there are other positives as well. For example, Cam Jordan is having yet another solid season for New Orleans. Through 10 games, Jordan has 3 1/2 sacks on the season. Last year, he had four sacks in 17 games. In 2023, he had just two sacks. Realistically, this season could end up being his highest sack total since he had 8 1/2 in 2022.
Jordan quietly had a big day this past weekend against the Panthers. He had a sack and two total tackles. That doesn’t sound like a lot, but it actually was the 125th sack of Jordan’s career. He currently has the 20th-most sacks in NFL history. There are only 20 players in league history who have been able to reach 125 sacks or more. Von Miller is the only player ahead of Jordan on the list who is currently playing.
Over the next few weeks, he has a chance to pass some more people in front of him as well. Right now, Dwight Freeney is at No. 19 with 125 1/2 sacks and Derrick Thomas is at No. 18 with 126 1/2. Rickey Jackson at No. 17 is the other guy who Jordan likely could reach this season as well at 128. After that, the next number to watch is 132 1/2.
Jordan is 36 years old, but he’s having his best season since 2022 and there are still seven games left. At the end of the day, the Saints keeping him past the trade deadline was the right call and we could see some history over the next few weeks.
Before its game against the San Jose Sharks (7-6-3) the Minnesota Wild (7-7-3) recalled defenseman David Spacek from the Iowa Wild of the American Hockey League (AHL).
Spacek, 22, was a fifth round pick by the Wild from the 2022 NHL Draft. He has played in 145 games with the Iowa Wild in parts of three seasons. He has recorded seven goals, 42 assists and 49 points.
The 6-foot defender has six assists in 12 games this season for Iowa. With Jake Middleton sick, adding Spacek will provide the Wild with a seventh defenseman incase someone can’t play tonight.