As of Wednesday, we have only a 4 day wait until the New Orleans Saints take the field for their season opener. New Orleans heads north for their first game, taking on the Detroit Lions on Sunday, Sept. 13. Rookie tight end Oscar Delp will wear the No. 4 for the Saints. A third round choice, Delp will become the 12th Saint to wear that number. Our countdown to kickoff series looks at each.
Saints History of No. 4
- K Mike Cofer (1987)
- QB Steve Walsh (1990-93)
- P Klaus Wilmsmeyer (1995-96)
- P Toby Gowin (2000-02)
- QB Todd Bouman (2003-05)
- K Billy Cundiff (2006)
- P Glenn Pakulak (2008)
- P Brandon Fields (2015)
- P Blake Gillikin (2021-22)
- QB Derek Carr (2023-24)
- CB Kool-Aid McKinstry (2025)
- TE Oscar Delp (current)
Before six-year and two-time Super Bowl champion career with the San Francisco 49ers, Mike Cofer was the first player to wear No. 4 for the Saints. He was a replacement player during the 1987 player strike for two games, hitting his only field goal attempt and five of seven extra points. Of the first 10 players to wear No. 4 before McKinstry will do it, Cofer was the first of seven kickers
or punters. Six of them lasted two seasons or fewer, with Cofer one of the four to make it a year or less.
New Orleans starting quarterback Bobby Hebert held out for the entire 1990 season. Early into that season, the Saints traded first-, second-, and third-round draft choices to the Dallas Cowboys in exchange for quarterback Steve Walsh. It would be one of the most-scrutinized trades in franchise history. Walsh started 11 games for Hebert in 1990, leading the team to a 6-5 mark. He completed 53.5% of his throws for 1,970 yards with 12 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. Hebert returned in 1991, but Walsh started seven games that year as an injury fill-in. He had a 55.3% completion percentage with 1,638 yards, 11 touchdowns, 6 interceptions, and a 3-4 record. Walsh was released by the Saints after a 1993 season where he played in only one game.
Punters Klaus Wilmsmeyer and Toby Gowin were the next two to wear No. 4 for the Saints. Wilmsmeyer was the team's punter for two seasons. He had a respectable 40.7 yard gross average, but only 33.9 net average, with his 32 games being the second most of any player to wear No. 4 with the team. The most games of any Saint in No. 4 was Gowin, who suited up in 47 contests. Gowin had a gross average of 41.6 yards and 34.9 net average with 28.9% of his punts getting downed inside the opposing 20-yard line.
Todd Bouman is the answer to the trivia question of the last quarterback to start a game for the Saints before Drew Brees. Bouman started the final three games of the 2005 season most remembered for the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina. The team lost all three of those starts during a 3-13 season, with Bouman completing 55.7% of his passes for 722 yards with 2 touchdowns and 7 interceptions. He saw mop-up snaps in one game earlier that year also, also getting some light action in four games during the 2003 season.
After Bouman came a string of a kicker and two punters to wear No. 4 between 2006 and 2021. Billy Cundiff, Glenn Pakulak, and Brandon Fields were with the Saints for a combined 15 games. Punter Blake Gillikin also wore No. 4 for all of the 2021 season and part of 2022 before switching to No. 5. In 2021 wearing the No. 4 jersey, Gillikin had a 47.7 yard gross average with a net of 42 yards and 34.9% of his kicks getting downed inside the opposing 20-yard line.
New Orleans hoped that 2023 free-agent pickup Derek Carr would be their answer for the quarterback question they had since Drew Brees retired after the 2020 season. He was not. Carr's numbers weren't bad as a Saint. In 27 games over two seasons, he had a 68.2% completion percentage with 6,023 yards, 40 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions. His problems were that he often took unnecessary sacks from holding onto the ball too long, put his receivers in bad positions, and failed to make the key plays when his team needed them most. Injuries also began to pile up, as did ill-will between Carr and the fan base, media, and even teammates. Carr He retired during the 2025 offseason, leaving behind a tenure that will be remembered for worse than it actually was given the team's ugly history at quarterback, but one that failed miserably at succeeding Brees.
Kool-Aid McKinstry became the first Saints defensive player to wear No. 4. After wearing No. 14 during his very promising 2024 rookie season, McKinstry took a new number and a new role as part of the featured young core in a new-look secondary and rebuilding New Orleans Saints defense. McKinstry did well with the assignment, intercepting 3 passes and breaking up 17 others. During the 2026 offseason, McKinstry switched numbers again to No. 1. It was the uniform number he'd worn in college with Alabama.
With the 4 jersey open, rookie tight end Oscar Delp took it over. Delp wore that number in college with the Georgia Bulldogs. He's the first New Orleans tight end to wear a single-digit jersey. Delp is also expected to be a key part of the Saints offense in 2026 and moving forward.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: 4 days until Saints opener: Every player to wear the No. 4 jersey
