One of the defining narratives surrounding the New Orleans Saints in recent years was their reliance on aging talent. Between a series of poor draft classes and late-career starts from guys like Demario Davis, Cameron Jordan, and Tyrann Mathieu (plus Taysom Hill, Nathan Shepherd, Davon Godchaux, and so on), at times the Saints were a visibly slower team than their opponents. That may not be the case going into 2026.
With the 2026 NFL Draft behind us, the Saints now rank ninth-youngest around the league (at 25.78 years of age), with the fifth-youngest offense (25.46). The only player over 30 on that side of the ball is running back Alvin Kamara, who will turn 31 in July. Between their rookie draft picks and carefully calculated moves in free agency, the New Orleans offense is already looking faster and more youthful in 2026.
It’s a slightly different story on defense. The Saints have an average age of 26.1 on the other side of the ball, ranking 21st among their peers. While there’s just two projected Week 1 starters over 30 (Shepherd at defensive tackle and Kaden Elliss at linebacker), backups like Godchaux (31) and cornerback Isaac Yiadom (30) are raising the average down higher than you’d like. But that’s going to change. Rookie second-round pick Christen Miller, 21, is the one of the youngest players on the team and figures to take Godchaux’s spot in the rotation.
And who’s the youngest? That would be this year’s first-round pick Jordyn Tyson, born one week to the day after Miller (on Aug. 12; Miller’s birthday is Aug. 5).
Average NFL roster age entering the 2026 season (sorted from youngest to oldest) pic.twitter.com/h74Tm35Dnu
— Ian Hartitz (@Ihartitz) May 6, 2026
As to how great a difference this really makes? Ideally, you want the roster to have a mix of proven veterans who can lead the locker room and young stars developing to take their place. As far as the numbers go, the NFL’s youngest team (the Miami Dolphins, at 25.18) are separated by almost a year and a half from the oldest (the Washington Commanders, at 26.79). It’s a thin margin, but when you look at where the Saints have made their investments, you can see how it could pay off.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Where Saints rank in average NFL team age after 2026 draft
