Countdown to Kickoff: Carl Granderson is the Saints Player of Day 96

A 96-day wait remains before the New Orleans Saints kick off their 2026 regular season. The Saints will do so on the road, traveling to take on the Detroit Lions on Sunday, Sept. 13. Defensive end Carl Granderson is wearing No. 96 as he nears his eighth year with New Orleans. As our Saints Player of the Day, we take a closer look at Granderson's career so far.

• Name (age): Carl Granderson (29)

• Hometown: Sacramento, Calif.

• Position: Defensive end

• Height, weight: 6-foot-5, 261 pounds

• Relative Athletic Score: 7.68

• Drafted: Undrafted, 2019 (Saints)

• NFL experience 7 seasons

• 2026 salary cap hit: $9,474,500

A graduate of Grant Union High School in California, Granderson took his talents to the University of Wyoming. He'd be with the Cowboys for four years, compiling totals of 17.5 sacks and 36 tackles for loss while intercepting 3 passes and scoring two defensive touchdowns. Granderson led the Mountain West Conference with 16 stops for loss in 2017, adding 9.5 sacks on his way to first team All-Conference honors. He'd earn second team All-MWC accolades in 2018 with 3 sacks and 8 tackles for loss.

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A probable Day 2 pick in the 2019 NFL draft, Granderson slipped out of the draft altogether because of legal issues stemming from an incident at Wyoming. Those legal difficulties forced him to be inactive for the first half of his first NFL season after the Saints signed him as an undrafted rookie. Once behind him, Granderson began slowly working his way up the New Orleans depth chart. He was a rotational player for his first four seasons, averaging under 40% of the defensive snaps per year. However, he also showed tremendous potential and growth between 2019 and 2022. In limited opportunities, Granderson had 14.5 sacks, 28 QB hits, and 19 tackles for loss in those first four campaigns.

By 2023, Granderson was a regular starter for New Orleans, averaging around 75% of the defensive snaps over the next two years. In that span, he had 14 sacks, 60 pressures, 33 QB hits, and 23 tackles for negative yardage. He led the Saints in all four categories in 2023 while leading the team in negative tackles in 2024. Under new defensive coordinator Brandon Staley in 2025, Granderson's responsibilities changed a bit. He played more of a stand-up rusher for the first time in his career and still appeared in 70% (765) of the defensive snaps. The overall numbers weren't bad on the surface -- 6 sacks, 23 pressures, 11 tackles for loss, and his first career interception. However, that hides the fact that he had a flurry of production to start the year and again down the final stretch of the season but was mostly invisible through the middle part of the schedule.

Carl Granderson's 2026 salary cap hit is escalated $3 million dollars over last year. For that price tag, the Saints need more consistent pass rush production. Franchise legend Cameron Jordan remains unsigned with a little more than a month before training camp. New Orleans may still re-sign Jordan, but need Granderson to step up as a force opposite of Chase Young either way.

This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Countdown to Kickoff: Carl Granderson is the Saints Player of Day 96