Ex-Cal Star Cameron Jordan May Have a New NFL Address in 2026

Defensive end Cameron Jordan, one of Cal’s most enduring NFL players, is expected to become a free agent for the first time next week. But that doesn’t necessarily mean his 15-year run with the New Orleans Saints is over.

Jordan, 36, is the Saints’ career sacks leader with 132. His contract will automatically void next Wednesday at 1 p.m. PT, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, if he doesn’t have a new deal in place.

Having renegoitated his salary a year ago to create a more team-friendly, incentive-laden contract, Jordan expressed some frustration in January that the franchise hasn’t shown a strong enough interest in retaining him for 2026.

"The Saints have done nothing but show that they want me to be here. Now, at what price? Some would say half off this last year," Jordan said, according to ESPN. "Can't do that again."

But Nick Underhill of New Orleans.Football suggests Jordan’s association with the Saints may continue. "Negotiating value," Underhill said in response to a fan inquiry, according to New Orleans Saints on SI. "It’s not necessarily over yet.”

Jordan, who will turn 37 in July, maxed out the incentives in his 2025 contract, collecting $2 million in bonuses after compiling 10.5 sacks. That was the seventh time he’s totaled at least 10 sacks in a season.

A native of Chandler, Arizona, Jordan arrived at Cal in 2007 and played in 50 of 51 career games, including 32 as a starter. He was a first-team All-Pac-10 selection as a senior in 2010 after twice earning honorable mention.

Jordan finished his Cal career with 175 tackles, 34 tackles for loss and 15.5 sacks.

He was a first-round draft pick of the Saints in 2011 and went on to become a member of the NFL’s 2010s All-Decade Team.

The 6-foot-4, 287-pounder had a career-high 15.5 sacks in 2019. He was a first-team All-Pro selection for the only time in 2017, when he had 13 sacks and also finished fourth in voting for the Defensive Player of the Year.

Jordan was a second-team All-Pro pick in both 2018 and ’19. He made his most recent Pro Bowl in 2022, but rebounded last season with his first double-digit sacks total since ’21.

If the Saints do not extend his contract by Wednesday, the franchise will absorb $18.76 million of dead money against its 2026 salary cap, according to ESPN. If the Saints sign him to a new deal after that deadline, the dead money from the previous contract and any money from the new contract would both count against the salary cap.

Jordan, who is heavily involved with the New Orleans community, has said repeatedly he would like to end his career with the Saints.

Now it appears doing so might not be his decision.

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