Saints’ Cameron Jordan sets high goal for 2023 season: ‘I expect a Super Bowl’

Sometimes in sports, as in life, it is best to head into a season with realistic expectations, so if things don’t go your team’s way the hopes were not too high to begin with. Many fans take this route, but it is unlikely players will admit they are fine with mediocrity. 

New Orleans Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan was vocal about his expectations for the season, admitting that the standard is to win every game they play. I feel confident the Saints will not end the year as the first undefeated team since the 1972 Miami Dolphins, but the enthusiasm from the 33-year-old is commendable. 

“Nobody has ever walked into a season (and) been like, ‘Ooh, I hope we win 10 games,'” Jordan said on SiriusXM NFL Radio. “No, I’m trying to win each and every game that we play. My expectation is being 21-0, 22-0, whatever it takes to get to a Super Bowl. I want to beat each and every team we line across.”

If the Saits did go undefeated in the regular season, it would put them at 17 wins. They would get the wild card bye, so a divisional round win, an NFC Championship Game win and a Super Bowl victory would make their final record 20-0. So good news Jordan, you need two fewer wins than you thought. 

In the 12 years on the Saints, Jordan has finished with less than 10 wins six times. The last time the Saints had 10 wins or more was in 2020, when they went 12-4 and lost in the divisional round. The closest the team has come to making a Super Bowl since 2011, when New Orleans drafted Jordan, was in 2018 when the Saints lost 26-23 to the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Championship.

After a 7-10 season in 2022, a winning record would be a good start for the squad, but Jordan is setting his sights as high as possible.

Jordan offered insight into the team’s mentality as the 2023 season approaches. They are going in with an aggressive approach that they believe will help them have the best possible outcome.

“Every tackle, who I’m never gonna know their names, but like every dude that’s out there, we’re trying to beat the breaks off of them. I’m trying to get to each and every quarterback,” Jordan said. “The reality is, we have potential. The mentality is, we want to as a defense take over each and every game. And there’s no allowance to be like, ‘Hey, I think we could be a 12-5 team.’ I think we can win each and every one of these things.”

The Saints have an easier road to at least the playoffs, now that quarterback Tom Brady is retired and out of the NFC South. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Carolina Panthers and Atlanta Falcons are all very beatable teams.

New Orleans has a new quarterback in Derek Carr and with the new offensive leader comes hope and higher expectations. The Super Bowl is in Las Vegas and since Carr left the Raiders after spending his entire career thus far there, Jordan feels it would be a perfect storyline if No. 4 ended up playing the final game of the year in Allegiant Stadium.

“I expect a Super Bowl,” Jordan said. “I expect to take Derek Carr, DC4, back to Vegas where he just left and have a return run at the Super Bowl.”

The Saints odds of winning it all are currently at +3500, the 14th-best overall odds, per Caesars Sportsbook. They have the best odds to win their division at +120 and have the fifth-best odds to be the conference winner at +1400. 

It is certainly possible the Saints could turn things around this season and with the additions they made in the offseason it is the first time since their longtime leader Drew Brees left that the high expectations have validity.