Top 50 New Orleans Saints
The New Orleans Saints first came to fruition in 1967, bringing the city their first major professional sports team. The Saints were awful for their first 20 years of existence, only having two .500 years in that timeframe, and it took until 2000 for the team to record their first playoff win.
Hurricane Katrina forced the Saints to play their entire 2005 season on the road, and for a time it looked like they might relocate. It didn’t happen, and with Quarterback, Drew Brees, they went to their first Super Bowl and won it (Super Bowl XLIV).
The Saints have fielded many competitive teams since, but have yet to return to the Super Bowl.
This list is up to the end of the 2022 season.
Note: Football lists are based on an amalgamation of tenure, traditional statistics, advanced statistics, playoff statistics, and post-season accolades.
Jim Wilks made the most of his opportunity when the lightly regarded defensive player from San Diego State not only made the New Orleans Saints roster despite being a 12thRound Pick, but he stayed with the team for his entire 13-year career.
At the University of Alabama, Mark Ingram was a superstar. The Crimson Tide Running Back captured the coveted Heisman Trophy in 2009, and his school won the National Championship. He did this as a sophomore, and while he regressed due to knee issues as a Junior, Ingram was still expected to be a high pick, which he was, when the Saints took…
From Notre Dame, Dave Waymer played the entire decade of the 1980s with the New Orleans Saints, who took the Defensive Back with their Second Round Pick.
One of the forgotten Quarterbacks in Saints history is Aaron Brooks, which is a shame considering he was a talented player who, for a few seasons, was on the cusp of being a Pro Bowler.
A Consensus All-American at Virginia, Jim Dombrowski was the product of New Orleans’ Sixth Overall Pick in the 1986 Draft.
Will Smith had a spectacular college career where at Ohio State, he was an All-American who won the BCS Championship and was the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. New Orleans landed him with their 18thOverall Pick in 2004, and it was as a Saint where he played his entire career.
Carl Nicks was only with the New Orleans Saints for four seasons, but he was arguably the best Offensive Lineman on the team.
La’Roi Glover had a less-than-spectacular start in pro football. The Oakland Raiders selected him in the Fifth Round in 1996, but the San Diego Aztec only played two games as a rookie. He then played for the Barcelona Dragons in the World League, winning the World Bowl, but he was placed on waivers by the Raiders in the following training camp. The Saints…
Joe Johnson was an All-Rookie for the Saints in 1994, after New Orleans took him 13thOverall in the NFL Draft after a great career at Louisville
Xavier University wasn’t known for its football players, and even if you were the all-time school record holder in Receiving Yards, it does not get you a lot of attention. Perhaps, that is why Danny Abramowicz, who held those honors as a Musketeer, went only in the 17thRound in 1967.
In terms of value, you can argue that one of the best Draft Picks that the New Orleans made in the 21stCentury was Zach Strief, their Seventh Round Pick from Northwestern.
Frank Warren played his entire pro career with the New Orleans Saints (1981-94), where he appeared in 11 Games shy of 200
Terron Armstead only played six games as a rookie (2013) for the New Orleans Saints, but the product of Arkansas-Pine Bluff did not have to wait long to see himself as a starter.
DeMario Davis began his career with the Jets, where after four years he signed with Cleveland only to be traded back the Gotham a year later where he had his best season to date, equating to a bidding war where he signed with the New Orleans Saints in 2018. Davis remained an unheralded, yet potent interior Linebacker, and while he…
A First Team All-Big Ten Selection in his lone year at Wisconsin, Ryan Ramcyzk was the final player taken in the First Round of the 2017 Draft.
Derland Moore was a walk-on at Oklahoma, and he went from unrecruited to a Second Round Pick. It was the New Orleans Saints who chose him, and they held on to the defensive player for well over a decade.
The brother of former Chicago Bear Center, Jay Hilgenberg, Joel Hilgenberg was also an NFL Center, who played his college ball at Iowa.
Roman Harper is one of the longest tenured Defensive Backs in the history of the New Orleans Saints, doing so in a period that highlighted offense well above defense
How fitting was it that Dalton Hilliard spent his entire professional career with the New Orleans Saints?