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The New Orleans Saints will take the field on Wednesday for the first time, kicking off their 2025 training camp. Also for the first time (in four years), the team will do so without veteran safety and emotional leader Tyrann Mathieu.
Mathieu surprisingly announced his retirement on Tuesday. Now, the position is in desperate need for another safety to step in next to Justin Reid. This dilemma brings rookie safety Jonas Sanker and third year defender Jordan Howden sharply into focus.
The Saints also signed another vet, Julian Blackmon, hours after Mathieu’s retirement. With five years of NFL experience turning just 27-years-old in August, he joins the movement of young players ready to vie for an important role In coordinator Brandon Staley’s defense.
Jonas Sanker
The former Virginia star is the most intriguing player at this spot. His impressive versatility makes him a hard-to-pass-up option for the disguise-heavy scheme.
New Orleans Saints brand new defensive back toy Jonas Sanker pic.twitter.com/c72YJFBsor
— dylan sanders (@DillySanders) April 26, 2025
Sanker took at least 500 career snaps in the box, in deep coverage and in the slot while at Virginia. That kind of experience at multiple deployments on defense feels like a tailor-made fit for Staley.
Jordan Howden
Entering his third season, Howden has already seen quite a bit of time on an NFL field. He has been the team’s go-to dime back and has been able to step in consistently when injuries strike the safety room.
He appeared in all 17 games last year with four starts. He reeled in a pair of interceptions (one short of tying the team-high) and tallied 50 combined tackles as well.
Jordan Howden with his first career INT & the Saints third forced turnover today whewwwwww
📺 FOX pic.twitter.com/0QAWGuoKFO
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) September 8, 2024
While Howden has seen his opportunities to get comfortable making plays in the box and playing closer to the line of scrimmage, he is a strong deep safety option rather than a moveable chess piece. Although, if he’s made strides closer to the trenches, he has a real shot to capture an expanded role.
Julian Blackmon
The newest addition to the group, Blackmon enters a promising situation regarding playing time. He arrives in New Orleans as one of the more experienced players at the position. He’s appeared in at least 11 games in four of five professional seasons thus far.
He has totaled 10 interceptions (seven in the last two years), two forced fumbles, four fumbles recovered and an impressive 300 combined tackles throughout his career.
He matches the versatility demanded by Staley’s scheme and is an impactful coverage player and tackler in the process.
.@Colts defense seals the game with an INT! #TENvsIND pic.twitter.com/lRdbrOkCJP
— NFL (@NFL) October 8, 2023
More Options
Safeties Ugo Amadi, JT Gray and Terrell Burgess all bring their own level of versatility (particularly Amadi and Burgess) and experience to the conversation. While the young names are exciting, these players won’t get left behind in the conversation.
Undrafted free agent rookie Elliott Davison is also an impressively mature candidate. The Saints were his favorite team growing up, and now there’s much more available with his team than just a practice squad spot.
