With 16 days left until the Saints kick off their 2026 season, the No. 16 jersey in New Orleans belongs to Bub Means. The third-year wide receiver is trying to get back on track after missing all of 2025 with an injury, and he enters camp looking sharp as he battles for a role in the wideout rotation.
Means is the 10th player in Saints history to wear No. 16, and the list stretches across every corner of the franchise’s timeline - from the team’s first draft class to a Hall of Fame quarterback to a string of receivers and passers in between.
The first to do it was S Bo Burris, who came to New Orleans as a second-round pick in 1967, the same draft year the franchise began. Burris played three seasons and finished with four interceptions, a scoring return, and three fumble recoveries. He remains the highest drafted player ever to wear No. 16 for the Saints.
Steve Ramsey was next, and he was the first offensive player in team history to wear the number. A fifth-round pick in the 1970 NFL draft, Ramsey appeared in just one game, threw two passes without a completion, and was with the Denver Broncos by 1971.
The number later went to punter Tom Blanchard, who joined the Saints in 1974 and held the job for five seasons. His 71 games are the second-longest stint by any New Orleans player to wear No. 16, and his 447 punts rank third in franchise history. One of those boots - a 71-yarder in 1974 - was the longest punt in the NFL that season and the second-longest in Saints history.
Then came Ken Stabler, who brought Hall of Fame credentials from Oakland and spent the final three years of his career in New Orleans. From 1982 to 1984, he started 22 of 25 games and finished 11-11. Stabler completed 57.2% of his passes for 3,670 yards, 17 touchdowns, and 33 interceptions.
After nearly a decade without another No. 16, Mike Buck took over.
A sixth-round pick in 1990, Buck didn’t play until 1991, when he appeared in eight games and made one start. He threw for 519 yards, four touchdowns, four interceptions, and completed 58.3% of his passes.
The next long run belonged to Lance Moore, who arrived as an undrafted receiver and became one of the most productive Saints pass catchers ever. His breakout came in 2008, when he caught 79 passes for 928 yards and 10 touchdowns and led the team in all three categories. He also delivered one of the biggest moments of the Super Bowl XLIV run with an acrobatic and critical 2-point conversion catch.
Moore kept producing through 2013, including a 2012 season in which he posted 1,041 receiving yards on 65 catches to become the seventh player in franchise history with a 1,000-yard receiving year. In eight seasons and 101 games with New Orleans, he totaled 346 receptions, 4,281 yards, and 38 touchdowns. He still sits in the Saints’ top 10 in catches, receiving yards, and scoring receptions, and he was inducted into the Saints Hall of Fame in 2018.
Brandon Coleman wore No. 16 next and spent four seasons and 48 games with the Saints. The undrafted receiver finished with 79 catches, 1,099 yards, and eight touchdowns before a career-ending neck injury cut things short. Bennie Fowler followed and closed out a six-year NFL career in New Orleans, though his time there was brief: five games, two catches, and 11 yards.
In 2021, the number went to quarterback Ian Book, a fourth-round pick out of Notre Dame. Book became the first rookie quarterback to start for New Orleans since Archie Manning in 1971, and the circumstances were brutal - Covid, missing most of the Saints’ first- and second-teamers, and a national Monday night matchup against the Miami Dolphins.
The result was a 20-6 loss, with Book completing 12 of 20 passes for 135 yards and two interceptions. It would be the only game of his career with the Saints, and the only game he has played in at the NFL level.
Now it’s Bub Means’ turn. Drafted in the fifth round out of Pitt in 2024, the wideout flashed early with nine catches for 118 yards and a touchdown across his first three games of significant action before an ankle injury ended his rookie season before the midpoint.
He then missed all of 2025 with another ankle injury. But with 2026 camp underway, he’s back in the picture and trying to turn No. 16 into something more than just another entry in the Saints’ history book.
In Other News...
Saints Bubble Players Face One Last Shot To Make The 53
The Saints have spent the preseason doing two things at once: tightening up the details and sorting through some of the last real roster questions before cutdown day. A few jobs are still open, and the competition has been especially lively on offense, where the wide receiver group has Trey Palmer, Kevin Austin Jr. and Bub Means all pushing for one of those final spots. Running back has its own urgency, too, with Alvin Kamaras injury opening the door for Audric Estime to make a stronger case for himself.
Zamir White is another name worth watching after arriving in a trade and getting thrown into the mix with limited time to settle in. For players on the bubble, this final preseason stretch is about more than just making a few catches or a couple of clean runs. It is about showing the Saints they can handle the discipline side of the roster-building process and still do enough on the field to survive the final trim to 53. [Read more 🡒]
Saints Camp Answered One Big Question Before Detroit
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There are still parts of the roster that need work, but there were also encouraging signs beyond the obvious camp buzz. Kendre Miller has looked promising since coming back from injury, and the safety group has emerged as a strength on defense, giving the Saints a solid backbone on that side of the ball. The larger test now is whether those gains hold up once the regular season starts exposing the roster in a much harsher setting. [Read more 🡒]
Saints Draft Picture Is Already Being Shaped By One Clear Weak Spot
The Saints are already staring at the 2026 draft with a pretty clear order of operations, and it starts on the edge. Behind Chase Young, the depth chart looks thin enough that edge rusher has become the obvious spot to keep an eye on, especially as the roster picture keeps evolving around injuries and the current makeup of the defense. It is the kind of need that can shape the board early, because New Orleans cannot afford to ignore a premium position if the group behind its top pass rusher remains unsettled.
Running back and defensive tackle have also moved higher on the list because of injuries to key players, while guard could enter the conversation depending on how the roster is handled over the next stretch. None of those spots carries quite the same urgency as edge, but they all point to the same reality for the Saints: the draft needs are starting to sort themselves out well before the spring, and the next few roster moves could decide how much flexibility they have when they get there. [Read more 🡒]