Is the Buccaneers-Saints rivalry officially dead?

The Buccaneers’ fiercest rival over the past few years has undoubtedly been the New Orleans Saints, and there are plenty of reasons why Tampa Bay fans have grown to loathe them.

First, there were years of being dominated by the Sean Payton- and Drew Brees-led Saints. During a decade when the Buccaneers were largely irrelevant and stuck in the NFC South cellar, the Saints were one of the league’s most successful regular-season teams. The Bucs suffered their share of frustrating losses at the hands of the Saints, and naturally, some resentment began to build.

Then came the long-standing beef between Mike Evans and Marshon Lattimore. The two have gone at each other’s throats since Lattimore entered the league in 2017. Their matchups have led to multiple scuffles, suspensions, and some of the most memorable brawls in recent NFL history.

Another factor is defensive end Cam Jordan, who seems to have a personal vendetta against Tampa Bay. The veteran defensive end has taken constant jabs at the Buccaneers over the years while simultaneously trying to downplay the rivalry. Perhaps the tension dates back to the 2011 NFL Draft, when the Bucs passed on Jordan to select Adrian Clayborn, who played the same position.

Tristan Wirfs has taken note of Jordan’s antics and has made it known how he feels.

"I guess it's not much of a rivalry anymore, according to [Cam Jordan]," Wirfs said. "For them to downplay it? It's a division game. There's always going to be a lot behind it.

Let’s not forget the feud between Carlton Davis and Michael Thomas. When the Bucs and Saints clashed in the 2020 NFC Divisional Round, Davis held Thomas to zero catches on five targets, and famously let him hear about it on social media afterward, forever cementing himself as a fan favorite in Tampa Bay.

The Saints' signing of Jameis Winston also ruffled some feathers, as some suspected that Sean Payton might've brought in Winston for some insider information and intel on the Tampa Bay offense to give the Saints a leg up. After five polarizing seasons in Tampa Bay, Winston signed in New Orleans as the eventual successor to Brees after the Bucs opted to replace him with Tom Brady. Seeing the Bucs’ former No. 1 overall pick suited up in the enemy’s colors certainly added some fuel to the fire of the rivalry, and Winston even threw a trick-play touchdown pass against the Bucs in the 2020 playoff matchup.

The Bucs-Saints rivalry has been fueled by a mix of bad blood, personal grudges, and years of high-stakes division battles. The playoff clash in 2020 added another layer, but now, it seems like many of the rivalry’s key elements are now in the rearview mirror.

Have the Bucs outgrown their rivalry with the Saints?

The rivalry hit its peak in 2020, when the Tom Brady-led Bucs and Drew Brees-led Saints battled for the NFC South title. The Saints swept the Bucs in the regular season, including an embarrassing 38-3 beatdown on Sunday Night Football. But Tampa Bay got the last laugh, handing Brees a heartbreaking playoff loss in New Orleans in his final career game.

That night marked the high point of the feud, with the Buccaneers finally getting over the hump in the most high-stakes matchup the two teams had ever played. Since then though, piece by piece, the rivalry has started to fade.

A year after Brees retired, Sean Payton followed. Still arguably the most resented head coach in the Bucs fandom, Payton has since come out of retirement to coach the Denver Broncos.

After a series of injuries, Jameis Winston was replaced by Derek Carr in New Orleans and has since bounced around the league as a journeyman backup.

Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, one of the most vocal and confrontational players in the NFL, and another villain in Bucs circles , has also become a journeyman. He’s suited up for several teams since leaving New Orleans, including last year’s Super Bowl champion Eagles.

Michael Thomas hasn’t played since 2023 after injuries derailed his promising career. Carlton Davis, who once headlined the rivalry with Thomas, was traded from Tampa Bay to the Lions in 2024 before going on to sign a lucrative deal with the Patriots this offseason.

But the final nail in the coffin for the rivalry may have come when the Saints traded Marshon Lattimore to the Commanders last season. Without the highly anticipated Evans-Lattimore showdown, there’s not much left to get excited about when Tampa Bay faces New Orleans.
The one player still keeping the rivalry on life support, while continuing to downplay it, is Cam Jordan. But with just six sacks over the past two seasons, his trash talk doesn’t carry the same weight it once did.

New Orleans enters this season projected as one of the worst teams in the league, with one of the murkiest quarterback situations. The Buccaneers, on the other hand, are chasing a fifth straight NFC South title. The two teams will always hold a fair amount of animosity, but the rivalry just doesn’t have the juice it did a few years ago as Tampa Bay continues to dominate.

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