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NEW ORLEANS -- Saints veterans Tyrann Mathieu and Cameron Jordan have reworked the final years of their respective deals to stay with the team, sources told ESPN on Thursday. Jordan posted a video on his Instagram account Thursday night citing "unfinished business" and indicated he would spend his 15th season in New Orleans, the team that selected him in the first round of the 2011 draft. Both players will sign new deals with expected pay decreases instead of the traditional restructures the Saints have used on several players' contracts this offseason to free up salary cap space.
A source said Mathieu's new deal will be incentive-based, with playing-time bonuses built into it. Mathieu did not have incentives in his previous renegotiated deal, when he took less money in 2024 in exchange for an additional year added to the contract for 2025. Editor's Picks Sources: DE Young back to Saints on 3-year deal 2d Which teams overpaid? Panicked? Built a QB-proof juggernaut? Let's hand out free agency superlatives 20h Ben Solak The deal signed last March guaranteed Mathieu a $1 million roster bonus this year and guaranteed $2.
5 million of his 2025 base salary. This is expected to be the first time Jordan has taken a pay decrease to an existing contract in his Saints career. He most recently signed a two-year extension in 2023 that guaranteed him $15 million.
The Saints restructured that deal last year, pushing his 2025 cap number to $20 million. Jordan had been set to make $12.5 million in base salary this year.
Of that, $1.5 million was already guaranteed and the rest would have become fully guaranteed Friday. He had made it clear that he didn't want to retire and would like to stay in New Orleans for another season if they wanted him back.
Asked at the end of the season if he would accept a pay cut to stay, he said his agent would take care of any potential negotiating. "I'm willing to work too, you know? I love being part of the city," Jordan said in December. "The Saints have been the only home I've known, so if you want to shut that door for me, you're going to have to shut it, because I'm not going to do it myself.
As much as I bleed, I only bleed black and gold, but if you force me to go somewhere else, a soldier fights wherever, whenever, however." While Jordan made it clear that he wanted to be back, he also expressed frustration at his decreased playing time under previous coach Dennis Allen and the team's attempts to play him more inside at defensive tackle. Mathieu has not missed a game since signing with the Saints in 2022, but he dealt with injuries (shoulder, heel, groin, forearm) last year and his snap count dropped to 86.
2%, his lowest since 2016. Jordan has missed only one game due to injury in his career and played through a significant ankle injury in 2023. Mathieu, who will turn 33 before the 2025 season, is going into his fourth season with the Saints.
He was selected in the third round of the 2013 draft by the Arizona Cardinals and has also played for the Houston Texans and Kansas City Chiefs . Jordan, who will turn 36 before the season, is the team's franchise sack leader, is a longtime team captain and was its nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year award last season. Mathieu has been a team captain for two of his three seasons in New Orleans.
The only other Saints player who has signed a decreased deal is right tackle Ryan Ramczyk , who lowered his base salary to the minimum in January ahead of his expected retirement. Ramczyk did not play in 2024 due to a significant knee issue..
