With the Saints sitting 13 days out from their 2026 opener, the No. 13 jersey has become the latest stop in the countdown. New Orleans heads north to face the Detroit Lions on Sunday, Sept. 13, and only eight players have ever worn 13 in franchise history.
The first was quarterback Larry Cipa, a 15th-round pick in 1974 and the first Saints draft choice to put on the number. He spent two seasons as a backup, appeared in eight games, and made three starts.
Cipa went 1-2, completed 37% of his passes, and threw for 424 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions. After him, the jersey sat unused for more than 20 years.
Doug Nussmeier came next. The Saints drafted him in the fourth round in 1994, but he did not get into a game until 1996.
Over four years with the club, he played in five games across 1996 and 1997, starting twice and going 0-2. He finished with 455 passing yards, one touchdown, three interceptions, and a 56.1% completion rate.
Nussmeier has worked as an offensive assistant coach at the NFL or college level since 2003 and is entering his second year as the Saints offensive coordinator.
Kerry Collins was a much bigger name with a much smaller New Orleans footprint. After being released by Carolina in 1998, he landed with the Saints and spent one season in the quarterback shuffle under Mike Ditka.
Collins started seven games, went 2-5, completed 49.2% of his throws, and totaled 1,202 yards with four touchdowns and 10 interceptions. His overall NFL career was a different story, stretching 17 years and including an NFC championship with the New York Giants.
The number then went quiet again until Joe Morgan took it in 2012. Morgan made noise right away, turning into a dangerous deep threat in his first season with the Saints.
He posted 379 receiving yards and three touchdowns on just 10 catches. Personal issues and a crowded receiver room cut into what followed, and he played only seven more games with four catches after that.
Even so, his 21 games are the second-most by any Saints player to wear No. 13.
Michael Thomas followed in 2016 and turned the jersey into something far bigger. A second-round pick out of Ohio State, Thomas is the highest-drafted player in Saints history to wear No. 13, and his 83 games are easily the most of anyone in the number.
His first four seasons were the stuff of record books: no one in NFL history had more catches or receiving yards over that span. He averaged 117.5 receptions and 1,378 yards per year, led the league in catches twice and in receiving yards once, and won Offensive Player of the Year in 2019.
That same season, he set the NFL single-season receptions record with 149 catches. Injuries to his foot beginning in 2020 changed everything, and from 2020 through his final Saints season in 2023, he suited up for only 20 of 67 possible games.
Even so, his place in team history is secure, with 573 receptions ranking third in franchise history and 6,569 receiving yards sitting fourth.
The later chapters have been much quieter. Equanimeous St.
Brown wore No. 13 in 2024 and appeared in only two games without a catch. Velus Jones Jr. had the number in 2025 and played in five games as a kick returner, but did not record a catch or rushing attempt.
Ja'Lynn Polk got the jersey when New Orleans acquired him in a September 2025 trade, but he spent the season on injured reserve and then announced his retirement early in 2026 training camp. Hunter Dekkers is the latest player to take on No. 13 in 2026.
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