Sports
91 days until Saints opener: Every player to wear the No. 91 jersey
June 14, 2026
Source: Yahoo Sports · Read on source site
We have 91 days remaining until the New Orleans Saints regular season opener. The Saints will travel north to begin their season on Sunday, Sept. 13 at the Detroit Lions. Defensive tackle Vernon Broughton wears No. 91 for the team as he comes into his second season in the NFL.
>A third-round choice in the 2025 NFL Draft, little was seen from Broughton after a hip injury ended his rookie year after just one game. Broughton is the 14th player in Saints history to wear No. 91. As our Countdown to Kickoff series continues, here's a look at all that wore the uniform.
Saints History of No. 91DT Monte Bennett (1981) • >LB Ken Marchiol (1987) • >DT Robert Goff (1990-95) • >DE Brady Smith (1996-99) • >DT Grady Jackson (2002-03) • >DE Will Smith (2004-12) • >LB Kasim Edebali (2014-16) • >DE Trey Hendrickson (2017-20) • >DE Ethan Westbrooks (2021) • >DT Josiah Bronson (2021) • >DT Kentavius Street (2022) • >DE Kyle Phillips (2023) • >DE Kendal Vickers (2024) • >DT Vernon Broughton (2025-current)Monte Bennett was the first Saints player to wear number 91, doing so for 16 games in 1981, his only season. Ken Marchiol was the next to wear it, playing three games as a replacement player during the 1987 player strike. Robert Goff was the first Saint to wear 91 for more than one season. Goff played six seasons in New Orleans, suiting up for 89 games while recording 5.5 sacks, recovering 8 fumbles, and returning 2 fumbles for touchdowns during the 1992 session. Goff owns the second-longest tenure of any Saints player to wear a 91 jersey.
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>Brady Smith was the first player drafted by the Saints to wear No. 91. Smith was a third-round choice in the 1996 NFL Draft who would be with New Orleans for four years and 62 games. He had 13 sacks over that span before leaving in 2000 and having greater success for six years with the hated rival Atlanta Falcons. Grady Jackson was another star best known with other teams, namely the Raiders and Packers. Jackson was also with the Saints for two seasons, recording 9 sacks and 14 tackles for loss.
>New Orleans selected Will Smith with the 18th choice in the first round of the 2004 NFL Draft, making him the highest drafted player by the Saints to wear a 91 jersey. All of Smith's nine seasons were spent in New Orleans, with his 139 games the most of anyone to wear number 91. In those nine years, Smith had 67.5 sacks, 85 tackles for loss, and forced 20 fumbles. He was a big part of the 2009 Super Bowl XLIV championship squad and in 2016 was inducted into the Saints Hall of Fame. Tragically, Smith was also killed that same year in a roadside shooting. Will Smith is also one of only eight individuals who are in the Saints Ring of Honor.
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>Kasim Edebali made the team as an undrafted rookie in 2014 out of Boston College. Edebali was an underrated contributor for his three seasons and 48 games as a Saint. Over that time he'd have 8 sacks and record 2 interceptions as a valuable rotation player.
>One of the players that the Saints obtained in a tremendous 2017 draft class was Trey Hendrickson with a third-round pick. Over his first three years, Hendrickson was a solid rotational defensive end. In 2020, his production erupted with 13.5 sacks and 25 stops for loss. After that season, Hendrickson departed in free agency and landed a starring role with the Cincinnati Bengals. Over four years and 45 games with the Saints, he totaled 20 sacks with 43 QB hits, 18 tackles for loss, and 3 forced fumbles.
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>Since Hendrickson departed, six different players have worn the No. 91 over five years. Out of the first five, only Kentavius Street was with the team longer than six games but wore two different numbers. The latest to don the 91 jersey is Vernon Broughton, a third-round choice in the 2025 NFL Draft.
>Broughton was able to play only one game as a rookie thanks to a season-ending hip injury. However, he was highly regarded coming out of the University of Texas. In 2026, Broughton is expected to have a significant impact on the Saints defensive line.
>This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Every Saints player to wear 91, from Will Smith to Trey Hendrickson