Giants-Saints Week 4 Game Could Be on the Move Due to Hurricane Ida

The Saints are on the move for at least their first four games of the 2021 season. What might that mean for the Giants, who are scheduled to visit the Saints in Week 4?

Author:
Patricia Traina
Publish date:
Sep 1, 2021 5:00 PM EDT

The New Orleans Saints are looking into setting up shop outside of their home state for at least the first four weeks of the upcoming season, thanks to the devastation to the area by Hurricane Ida.

Saints head coach Sean Payton told reporters that the team was looking into moving its operations out of New Orleans.

The Saints could be looking to set up shop in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, where they have been working since Hurricane Ida made landfall in the Gulf area last week.

That could mean the Giants' Week 4 game on October 3 that was scheduled to be played in New Orleans might shift to Dallas, where the Giants are scheduled to play in Week 5.

The Cowboys are scheduled to host the Panthers on October 3, so if the Giants and Saints game is moved to Dallas, the thinking is the game would shift to Monday night to avoid a scheduling conflict if the game is to be played at AT&T Stadium.

The game could also be played elsewhere, as will be the case in Week 1 when the Saints and Packers will play in Jacksonville. Back in 2005, after Hurricane Katrina tore through the Gulf, the Giants-Saints game scheduled for that year was moved from New Orleans to the old Giants Stadium in East Rutherford.

Although the game was designated as a Saints home game, critics pointed out that with the travel involved and the logistics for the Saints, the Giants got the better end of the deal.

Giants head coach Joe Judge said he hadn't heard anything from the league regarding the game's status.

"Obviously, we’ve got a lot of guys in here with ties down south, ties specifically in Louisiana, so there’s a lot of guys who are constantly talking to me about their families down there and how everyone is doing," Judge said Wednesday.

"Our thoughts and prayers are obviously with the people down there in that storm. A lot of us were down there through (Hurricane) Katrina, so you think back 16 years ago about what it was and what it looked like this time of year, it was a different time.

"In terms of the game itself, I know (the Saints have) relocated. I don’t have anything on the logistics of that. I’m sure the operations department will handle that and wherever they decide to play, that’s where we’ll be."

Judge added that he couldn't rule out the possibility of the Giants hosting the game in East Rutherford, though the likelihood of that happening is slim since the Jets have a home game scheduled at MetLife Stadium that same day.