Sunday brings the Saints to 63 days from their regular season opener, and the countdown lands on a number with a long, uneven run in New Orleans. The team opens the year on the road against the Detroit Lions on Sunday, Sept. 13, and rookie newcomer Michael Heldman is currently wearing No. 63 as training camp approaches.
Heldman, an undrafted addition, is trying to carve out a role in the Saints’ edge rusher rotation. If he keeps the number, he would become the 11th player to wear No. 63 in franchise history.
That list starts all the way back at the beginning of the franchise. G Roy Schmidt was the first Saint to wear 63, using it during the team’s first two seasons and appearing in 19 games, mostly as a reserve. G Norman Davis followed in 1969, playing in 14 games in a backup role.
The first defensive player to take the number was also the first New Orleans draft pick to do it. DE Steve Baumgartner, a second-round selection and the 51st overall pick in 1973, wore 63 from 1973-77.
He is the second-highest drafted Saint to wear the uniform, and his 61 games are the second-longest stint in the number. Baumgartner finished with 3.5 sacks and 5 fumble recoveries.
DE Barry Bennett came next, arriving as a third-round pick in the 1978 NFL Draft. Bennett nearly matched Baumgartner’s run with 60 games in the number, though his Saints production was more modest before he moved on to join the New York Jets’ “Sack Exchange.” He had 5 sacks in four seasons with New Orleans.
Then came the most accomplished Saint to wear No. 63.
G Brad Edelman, a second-round pick and the 30th overall selection in the 1982 NFL Draft, is the highest-drafted New Orleans player to wear the number. He also owns the longest run in it, with 90 games over eight seasons.
A mainstay at left guard, Edelman earned All-Rookie honors in 1982 and made the Pro Bowl in 1987.
The number then passed through a few shorter stays. DE Karl Dunbar wore it in 1993 for 13 games, mostly as a reserve, and G Donald Willis used it in 1996 for four appearances in his only year.
After that came G Wally Williams, a powerful blocker on a strong New Orleans line into the early 2000s. Williams was an underrated left guard for the Saints during the final four years of a 10-year NFL career.
Since Williams, 63 has barely been seen in New Orleans. Only two players have appeared in a game for the Saints wearing it over the last 23 years.
C Cameron Tom wore it for one season and 11 games during his two years with the team. Luke Fortner also got into the mix after arriving in a 2025 training camp trade, appearing in every game and starting 10 times as an injury replacement before leaving in free agency.
He initially practiced in 63 before switching to No. 79.
Now it’s Heldman’s turn, and he’s trying to do something no Saints defensive player has done since Dunbar in 1993: make No. 63 his own.
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