Some of the Saints’ all-time greats still stand tall
The New Orleans Saints have always had one or two good defensive players on each roster they have sent onto the field, and for much of the late 2010s, had an absolutely outstanding defense to go alongside late-career Drew Brees. With pieces in place to compete, they did just that for quite a few years before his retirement, and the defensive success they were able to produce gave Brees multiple good shots at another ring. Unfortunately, it didn’t pan out in the end, but at the end of the day, the team found success.
One of the stats to look back on that reflects this is tackles for loss, as they have only been tracked officially since 1999, so for the Saints, it includes many of these specific players, as well as some from the mid-2000s defense, which had some good pieces. With that said, let’s take a look at the franchise leaders in tackles for loss:
20. DT Norman Hand (2000-2002): 21 tackles for loss in 44 games
19. LB Charlie Clemons (2001-2002): 22 tackles for loss in 32 games
18. S Kenny Vaccaro (2013-2017): 23 tackles for loss in 68 games
17. LB Scott Shanle (2006-2012): 25 tackles for loss in 42 games
16. DT Sheldon Rankins (2016-2020): 25 tackles for loss in 63 games
15. DE Marcus Davenport (2018-2022): 25 tackles for loss in 63 games
14. LB Jonathan Vilma (2008-2013): 26 tackles for loss in 70 games
13. LB Darrin Smith (2000-2004): 27 tackles for loss in 64 games
12. DE Joe Johnson (1994-2001): 27 tackles for loss in 106 games
11. DT David Onyemata (2016-2022): 28 tackles for loss in 106 games
10. DE Junior Galette (2010-2014): 34 tackles for loss in 64 games
9. S Roman Harper (2006-2016): 38 tackles for loss in 124 games
8. DE Willie Whitehead (1999-2006): 40 tackles for loss in 105 games
7. DT La’Roi Glover (1997-2001): 41 tackles for loss in 79 games
6. DE Carl Granderson (2019-present): 42 tackles for loss in 88 games
5. DE Darren Howard (2000-2005): 57 tackles for loss in 81 games
4. DE Charles Grant (2002-2009): 66 tackles for loss in 118 games
3. LB Demario Davis (2018-present): 72 tackles for loss in 114 games
2. DE Will Smith (2004-2012): 85 tackles for loss in 139 games
1. DE Cameron Jordan (2011-present): 160 tackles for loss in 226 games
