When defensive end Cameron Jordan arrived in New Orleans after the Saints selected him in the 2011 NFL Draft, the city quickly adopted him. At the time, the NFL was dealing with labor stoppages that prevented players from accessing team facilities and even communicating with coaches. Yet the people of New Orleans helped Jordan feel at home, and it played a big role in why he never seriously considered free agency.

Over the next 15 years, Jordan built his entire life in the city as he met his wife there, settled down with his kids, and found the highest form of success with the Saints. But this year, after he became an unrestricted free agent, the Saints legend is suddenly open to moving away from New Orleans. During an appearance on his former teammate Terron Armstead’s podcast, The Set on Monday, Cam Jordan revealed that he and his wife have discussed three possible options for his next step in free agency.

“Wifey was like, if we’re thinking about this team, let’s have a talk, and I said, well, we ain’t thinking about this team, but maybe okay, I said let’s have a talk, and so I was in Florida, had to fly home to Arizona real quick to have a little pow-wow. I was like, let’s talk, and she just gave me the three options we have. I was like, we got three options.”

The options still remain a secret, as Jordan didn’t reveal them on March 16. However, the veteran DE admitted that he recently returned to the Saints’ facility to clear out some belongings from his locker, “in the off-chance” that things don’t work out in New Orleans.

Cam Jordan signed a two-year, $27.5 million deal with the Saints in 2023. But last year, Jordan reworked that contract with the team to lower his base salary while adding incentives tied to playing time and sacks. He maxed out his incentives of $2 million for sacks and finished the season with 10.5 sacks, his most since the 2021 season. This year, though, Jordan made it clear that he doesn’t want to repeat that kind of deal with the Saints.

“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 in an interview back in January. “Can’t do that again.”

According to Spotrac, Cam Jordan’s current market value sits around $6.8 million on a one-year contract. But money doesn’t appear to be the biggest factor in Jordan’s decision about where to play his 16th NFL season. Instead, the 36-year-old seems focused on finding the right NFL team that could place him in a situation where he can still produce at a high level.

“Value means position, rotation, monetary sure, but more along the lines that if I want to get 10, 12, 13 sacks next season, I want to be in the best position to do so,” Jordan said recently on The Set podcast. “It could be at the Saints, it could be at Miami Dolphins, it could be I won’t go, it can’t be it can’t be Cleveland or Buffalo or Green Bay, but it could be. As much as I love the city of New Orleans and want to be in the city of New Orleans – if things that don’t add up to what I consider value happen, then I understand the business nature of it all.”

While the Saints finished their 2025 season with a dismal 6-11 record, Cam Jordan still believes that the team could contend for a Super Bowl within the next two years. But from Jordan’s perspective, that timeline matters because he believes that there is only about two or three years left in his tank. Now, if the Saints lose Jordan, they won’t just be replacing an elite pass rusher – they would also lose a leader who has been the voice of their defense for more than a decade.

While the Saints drafted Jordan with the No. 24 overall pick in the third round of the 2011 NFL Draft, he has spent all 15 seasons of his NFL career with the franchise. Along the way, Jordan has played 243 games, which is the most ever for the Saints, surpassing even Drew Brees. Jordan has also missed only one game in his NFL career, which came after he fractured his orbital bone during the 2022 season. That same year, Jordan still became the franchise’s all-time sack leader.

Jordan has recorded 763 tackles, 132 sacks, 17 forced fumbles, 248 QB hits, and three interceptions throughout his NFL career to earn eight Pro Bowl nods and three All-Pro selections. Last season, Jordan saw a career resurgence as he recorded 47 tackles, 10.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 15 tackles for loss, and 15 QB hits, which was his best production since 2021. Still, Jordan appears to be mentally preparing for the possibility of playing for another team for the first time in his career.

“Even if I’m in a different jersey, I’m still going to make it back to New Orleans five or six times a year,” Jordan said while talking about his free agency with Terron Armstead.

Cam Jordan has repeatedly said he wants to finish his career in New Orleans. The Saints, for their part, haven’t publicly suggested they want to move on. But while the Saints work to bring Jordan back, his peers around the league, such as the Kansas City Chiefs’ defensive tackle Chris Jones, have already started thinking about his future elsewhere.  

Did Chris Jones make a public recruiting pitch for Cam Jordan?

The Chiefs have appeared in five of the last seven Super Bowls and won three of them. If Cam Jordan wants one more shot at a championship, Kansas City might look like an attractive destination. And interestingly, just before Jordan’s contract with the Saints was officially voided, Chris Jones linked the DE’s name to the Chiefs with a cryptic post.

“Cam Jordan…,” Chris Jones simply wrote via X on March 11.

The ellipsis perhaps signaled Jones trailing off in thought about Cam Jordan’s NFL future. But this also came at a time when analysts have started speculating about whether the Chiefs could pursue the veteran pass rusher while they plan to rebound from a 6-11 season.

“The New Orleans Saints star is looking to play his 16th NFL season, and it could be his first away from New Orleans,” Jordan Dejani wrote recently in an article for CBS Sports. “Kansas City could score Jordan on a cheap deal as the Chiefs look to rebound in 2026.”

The Chiefs have already been making some aggressive moves this offseason, like signing running back Kenneth Walker III in free agency and trading for quarterback Justin Fields. These moves will help steady the ship for the Chiefs to start the 2026 season while their star QB, Patrick Mahomes, recovers from a torn ACL.

But the Chiefs’ defense has also lost key pieces as they traded cornerback Trent McDuffie to the Los Angeles Rams, and his fellow cornerback Jaylen Watson followed him there. The Chiefs also lost safety Bryan Cook in free agency. That turnover leaves the Chiefs with clear defensive needs, so adding Cam Jordan could help stabilize the defensive front.

Now, according to Over The Cap, the Chiefs also currently have just over $21 million in available cap space, but that number could shrink once their recent signings become official. So, if the Saints hesitate to meet Jordan’s value, the Chiefs might see an opportunity. For now, though, Jordan continues weighing his options with other teams while considering what the Saints have already proposed to him.