Do you pay for what a player has done or what they’re going to do? That’s typically a question asked when trying to project how much a player’s contract will be worth.
People will lean either way depending on how they feel about the player, but the answer is usually a mix of both. That’s what made negotiations between the New Orleans Saints and Cam Jordan so interesting.
Jordan is going into Year 16. Even before we knew it would be his final year, it was assumed he wouldn’t be on a multi-year deal. It can be hard to project exactly what a player will look like this deep into his career. If there was a player to take the risk of overpaying, it is a franchise legend like Jordan.
The end result was a one-year deal with a $7.5 million base salary and a ceiling of $11 million with the extra incentives, per NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill. That strikes a great balance between what you’ve done and what you could do.
Saints give Cam Jordan a true win-win deal
The biggest question around Cam Jordan this year is whether or not he can do it again. He finished 2025 with a shocking 10.5 sacks. After recording just 6 sacks total over the previous two seasons, no one saw that resurgence coming.
That doesn’t equate to unquestioned faith of a repeat performance. Jordan’s contract reflects the uncertainty of the situation while also rewarding him for his performance last year.
It’s not too dissimilar to the contract Jordan played last year, with a $1.5 million jump in both base salary and incentives. It was also heavily laced with incentives. The Saints gave Jordan a pay bump from last year’s $6.05 million base salary. The incentives also rose from $2 million to $3.5 million.
There’s more security this year, but the inclusion of incentives puts the weight of the contract on Jordan’s performance. Jordan and the Saints both get security in this situation. If he reaches all the incentives again, he’ll be happy with his deal. The Saints will be satisfied paying Jordan at that figure, and the team will gladly pay the incentives. Everybody wins.
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