Cam Jordan isn’t buying the usual disrespect around Kirk Cousins, and Saints fans would be wise to listen.
With the New Orleans Saints set to see the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, there’s a weirdly familiar feel to the matchup. Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak spent last season as New Orleans’ offensive coordinator, and Cousins is such a known quantity at this point that even newer faces in the Saints locker room have plenty of background on him.
Jordan, who entered the league a year before Cousins, made the case plainly and used Jared Goff as the comparison point.
"Kirk Cousins has been a winner any time he's been at the helm. For the franchises that try to get rid of Kirk Cousins, I never understood when you don't have something that's better than Kirk Cousins.
And to where he's at now, they're clearly 2-0, and it's because he's a guy who's Jared Goff-esque. He's going to dissect the defense.
He can read a defense. He can make the plays.
That’s the part of Cousins’ game Jordan is highlighting: the steady processing, the clean decisions, the way he can take apart a defense without needing fireworks. It’s the same kind of quarterback profile that tends to get dismissed until it starts winning games.
The Saints have seen plenty of Cousins already. He spent the last two seasons with the Falcons, and even though Michael Penix Jr. split time as the starter, Cousins was the only one who actually played against New Orleans in that stretch.
That should leave most of the Saints defense with direct experience against him. Julian Blackmon and Vernon Broughton missed those Falcons games because of injury, and Kaden Elliss was with Cousins on Atlanta’s roster last year. Everyone else on that side of the ball faced him in 2024.
There’s similar overlap with Kubiak. He was New Orleans’ offensive coordinator in 2024, so most of the Saints defenders either worked with him or lined up against his system during that season.
That means a lot of this matchup won’t be about surprise. It’ll be about who knows the other side better on Sunday.
Kubiak has clearly adjusted things since leaving New Orleans and shaping the offense around the talent in Las Vegas, but the foundation remains familiar. And that cuts both ways. The Saints know what he wants to do, but he also knows the strengths and weaknesses of the players lining up across from him.
In Other News...
Saints Still Clearly Bother This Buccaneers Legend
Lavonte David is long gone from the field, but the Saints still seem to linger in his football memory. The retired Buccaneers linebacker looked back on the NFC South rivalry and made it clear that New Orleans has held a special place in Tampa Bays history of aggravation, especially from the days when Drew Brees was still steering those Saints teams and wins over them felt hard to come by.
David also pointed to the broader division backdrop, where New Orleans spent years setting the tone under Sean Payton and Brees while Tampa Bay chased it. Even with the Buccaneers playoff win over the Saints standing out as a major turning point, David drew a sharp contrast between how New Orleans carried itself and the more muted approach he associated with other rivals, which says plenty about how deep the Saints-Bucs edge still runs. [Read more 🡒]
Saints Home Opener Could Hinge On One Big Tyler Shough Concern
The Saints are getting ready for their 2026 home opener against the Raiders, and there is a familiar face on the other sideline in former New Orleans offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak. Las Vegas has been leaning on quarterback Kirk Cousins, while Tyler Shough has given the Saints a promising start by leading the league in several passing categories, which has helped shape the early conversation around what kind of team this can be.
Still, the matchup comes with more than a little uncertainty attached. Both clubs are dealing with injuries and trying to sort out defensive answers, and for New Orleans the biggest question may be how Shough handles the kind of pressure that a veteran coach and a well-schooled Raiders defense can bring. The Saints have reason to feel encouraged, but this game could turn on whether their young quarterback keeps the momentum going when the spotlight gets a little brighter. [Read more 🡒]
Saints Fans May Hate Where This Pass Rush Question Is Heading
The Saints pass-rush depth took another small but notable hit this week when Michael Heldman surfaced elsewhere, landing on the Kansas City Chiefs practice squad after his short New Orleans stint ended with an injury settlement and a waiver. It was a quick turn for the former rookie edge rusher, who had initially been one of the more modest investments the Saints made among their undrafted free agents before roster cuts and health concerns changed the equation.
Heldmans new number in Kansas City is 49, a reminder that the Saints are already watching a player they brought in to help chase quarterbacks continue his development somewhere else. For a New Orleans defense that is still sorting out who can consistently pressure the passer, moves like this tend to linger in the background, because even fringe additions matter when a team is trying to build enough edge depth to survive the long season. [Read more 🡒]