METAIRIE, La. — When New Orleans Saints linebacker Kaden Elliss signed his new three-year contract last week, he did it with the knowledge he had big shoes to fill.
How does one replace a legend?
This is a question incoming players, but more matter of factly the Saints, have had to answer a few times over the years. When Drew Brees retired in 2020, they went through multiple starting quarterbacks before finding Tyler Shough in the second round of the 2025 NFL draft. Attempts to replace punter Thomas Morstead, famous for his onside kick in the Saints’ Super Bowl XLIV win, have been unsuccessful.
Now the Saints will be figuring out life after linebacker Demario Davis, who signed with the New York Jets in free agency. They might also be looking for the next Taysom Hill and Cameron Jordan, who became free agents last week.
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The Saints are reconstructing their roster move by move in coach Kellen Moore’s second year. Moore is trying to put his stamp on the team as the franchise works to return to the playoffs for the first time since Brees’ final season in 2020.
But neither Elliss nor the Saints expect a smooth transition. That’s why the former Atlanta Falcon made sure to emphasize he won’t be the singular replacement for a player in Davis, who was a standout on and off the field.
“His leadership, his voice, his wisdom. I don’t think you can replace that with one human being,” Elliss said. “It’s going to take a group effort to fill the void left by Demario.”
The Saints’ reconstruction process began last summer when quarterback Derek Carr abruptly retired shortly after the April draft. Right tackle Ryan Ramczyk also retired after missing the 2024 season because of knee issues, and safety Tyrann Mathieu retired in training camp.
Their replacements were safety Justin Reid, a free agent addition; first-round selection and offensive tackle Kelvin Banks Jr.; and Shough, the 40th pick of the draft.
More changes were expected as the Saints headed into free agency thanks in part to their aging roster. Davis turned 37 in January, Hill will be 36 when the season begins and Jordan turns 37 in July.
Things changed quickly.
Davis agreed to terms with the Jets on Day 1 of the negotiating period, Jordan and Hill became free agents and tight end Foster Moreau signed with the Houston Texans. The oldest non-specialist on the Saints’ roster is defensive tackle Nathan Shepherd, who turned 32 in October.
In their places, the Saints have brought in Elliss, tight end Noah Fant, guard David Edwards, punter Ryan Wright and running back Travis Etienne Jr. Moore said Thursday that they will see how things play out with Hill and Jordan, while running back Alvin Kamara remains on the roster with questions about his long-term future.
Etienne, who has modeled some of his game after Kamara, said he welcomes the chance to play with him.
“I actually have college pictures of me rocking an AK Jersey, rocking AK and Drew Brees’ jersey. So I mean, I would love to play with him. I mean, just think about just having that veteran guy who can just help accelerate my growth. And I’m willing to try to help him, although he’s AK, but I would love to play with him, man,” Etienne said.
If Kamara, Hill and Jordan don’t play for the Saints in 2026, that means only three of the eight captains from 2025 will return this year (Reid, long-snapper Zach Wood and center Erik McCoy). Hill was also a team captain in 2024.
It would also mean players from the Sean Payton era, and some longtime fan favorites, will be gone.
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Kamara was the 2017 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year and led the league with 21 touchdowns in 2020. Jordan became the franchise sack leader during the 2022 season. Hill, one of the NFL’s most unique performers, is the only player in the Super Bowl era to have more than 1,000 career yards in each offensive category.
Moore understands those veteran player departures might be difficult to absorb all at once, so he has searched for a common thread when signing new faces.
“If there’s a theme, a bunch of high character guys, guys that we love in this locker room, that are going to be great teammates, great people in this community. And obviously we certainly recognize the ability for them to perform on the field,” Moore said.
The potential departures will also be a chance for new players to shine. Chief among them is Elliss, who as a 2019 draft pick by the Saints is returning to New Orleans following three seasons with the Falcons. Elliss, 30, matured as a player in Atlanta, where he started 51 games and became a team captain last season. Those opportunities seemed impossible when he was initially with New Orleans for four seasons. Davis joined the team as a free agent in 2018 and became one of the best free agent signings in franchise history, missing only one game due to injury in his eight seasons there.
Elliss said: “He was obviously the alpha in our room and there was a lot of high-end talent, that if you really look at Demario, he fended off a lot of talent that came and tried to take his job. He said, ‘Uh-uh, this is my spot. I’m here and I’ll tell you when I’m ready to leave.'”
The void in veteran leadership also paves a path for Shough to step into that role in his second season. While Moore was looking for his own common thread among new players, the players were evaluating the Saints and were looking for their unifying theme: what the Saints had at quarterback.
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“I certainly think having some stability there and having Tyler in the position that he’s in, I think certainly gives you a lot of confidence,” Moore said. “And I think it gives a much cleaner picture for players than when they’re looking at this place and, ‘OK what’s the opportunity going to look like?’ It’s an important aspect.”
Shough already took the steps to welcome each new Saints player, posting his excitement on social media about the newcomers and reaching out to Etienne to have dinner at a New Orleans area steakhouse Thursday night.
The Saints have learned over the years that replacing a legend isn’t an overnight process. But they’ve already begun planting the seeds to create a new kind of chemistry for their young locker room in 2026.
“Whenever you got just a building with the passion and the guys and the energy and things they’re trying to get going around here, I feel like it’s easier to just want to buy into that,” Etienne said.
