With 64 days left before the New Orleans Saints open the regular season on the road against the Detroit Lions on Sunday, Sept. 13, the countdown has landed on a number no one is wearing right now. No Saints player currently has No. 64, so the spotlight shifts back to one of the best to ever wear the uniform: Zach Strief.
Strief is 42 now, but his path to New Orleans started far from the Superdome, in Milford, Ohio. At Milford High School, he stood out in football and also lettered in basketball and track. The school later retired his No. 63 football jersey, making it only the second jersey retired in Milford’s history.
He went on to Northwestern, where he developed into a two-year starter and earned second team All-Big Ten honors twice. In 2005, he was named a first team All-American. Even with that résumé, he slid to the second pick of the seventh round in the 2006 NFL Draft, where the Saints grabbed him as part of a class that also brought in Reggie Bush, Roman Harper, Jahri Evans, and Marques Colston.
Strief’s early years in the league were mostly about patience and role work. From 2006 through 2010, he played in 71 games but started only seven, spending most of his time on special teams blocking units.
He still found ways to matter, often serving as a sixth lineman in jumbo packages for short-yardage and goal-line situations. He was also part of the Saints’ Super Bowl XLIV championship team.
His biggest break came in 2011, when he won the starting right tackle job. From there, he made 85 regular season starts at that spot through the 2016 season and became part of a line that helped power one of the most productive offenses in NFL history, especially in 2011. He never always got the loudest attention, but he brought real value as a punishing run blocker and a dependable pass protector.
An injury early in 2017 cut his final season short after just two games, and he retired after that year with 158 total games played and 3rd Team All-Pro honors from 2013. A year later, he moved into the Saints’ radio booth as the team’s play-by-play voice after Jim Henderson retired, and he handled that job for three seasons alongside Deuce McAllister.
In 2021, Strief returned to the sideline as a Saints assistant offensive line coach. He stayed in that role for two years before following Sean Payton to the Denver Broncos as offensive line coach. He still holds that title, and in 2025 he was promoted to Denver’s assistant head coach and run game coordinator.
In Other News...
Rams Backup Quarterback Debate Just Took A Serious Turn
The quarterback conversation in Los Angeles is already getting plenty of attention, and one former NFL scout has now pushed it in a direction that will interest Saints fans, too. Daniel Kelly recently made the case that Spencer Rattler should be viewed as a better backup option for Matthew Stafford than the Rams current depth behind him, pointing to Rattlers NFL experience and the way he has performed when given real work.
Rattlers case is built on more than just potential. He saw extended action for New Orleans last season, and Kelly highlighted efficiency markers that suggest he can handle the speed of the league, especially compared with Ty Simpson and Stetson Bennett, who have yet to take an NFL snap. For now, it is still just an evaluation and not a confirmed move, but it is the kind of outside noise that can quickly turn into a real roster discussion. [Read more 🡒]
Saints Fans Thought This Quarterback Drama Was Finally Over
For a while, it looked like the Saints had finally moved past the quarterback chaos that defined last season. Derek Carr was supposed to be the answer before retirement changed the plan, and New Orleans pivoted to the 2025 draft, where Tyler Shough eventually emerged from a competition with Spencer Rattler and gave the offense a steadier look.
Even with Shough in place and the team trying to build some normalcy, the Carr storyline has not gone away. The speculation has lingered long enough to keep Saints fans on edge, and Carr has not exactly helped quiet it, leaving one more layer of uncertainty around a position the franchise thought it had already settled. [Read more 🡒]
Saints Fans Already See TJ Halls Biggest Problem In New Orleans
TJ Hall arrived in New Orleans as a seventh-round corner with a reputation built more on toughness than flash, and that fits the kind of role the Saints seem ready to carve out for him. His best traits are on the physical side of the game, where his run support, tackling and reliability stand out, and those qualities should help him find a place on special teams while he learns the defense and settles into the secondary.
The challenge is that the path to real defensive snaps looks crowded early on, with established corners already in front of him on the depth chart. For now, Hall looks like the sort of developmental piece the Saints can keep around for depth and future upside, but the immediate question in New Orleans is how much room there really is for him to turn those traits into a larger role. [Read more 🡒]