Just 5 days are left before the New Orleans Saints
regular season opener. New Orleans travels north to open 2026 at the Detroit Lions on Sunday, Sept. 13. Fourth-year running back Kendre Miller wears No. 5 for the Saints. Miller is the first New Orleans running back to wear that number and the twelve player in Saints history to do it overall. Our countdown to kickoff series rolls on with a look at each of them that did so.Saints History of No. 5
- K Florian Kempf (1987)
- QB Heath Shuler (1997)
- K Taylor Mehlhaff (2008)
- K Garrett Hartley (2008-13)
- K Kai Forbath (2015)
- QB Teddy Bridgewater (2018-19)
- LB Kwon Alexander (2021)
- P Blake Gillikin (2022)
- WR Jarvis Landry (2022)
- WR Lynn Bowden Jr. (2023)
- S Will Harris (2024)
- RB Kendre Miller (2025-current)
It would take until 1987 until the first No. 5 was worn for New Orleans. Kicker Florian Kempf suited up in the uniform for one game as a replacement player during the player strike of 1987. Kempf converted 4 of his 5 field goal tries and an extra point during a 19-17 victory over the Chicago Bears. The next player to wear No. 5 wouldn't
come until a decade later.
Heath Shuler was an All-American at Tennessee and the third overall choice in the 1994 NFL draft by the Washington Redskins. Injuries and pitiful play caused him to be benched by 1995 in Washington. After the 1996 season, the Saints and coach Mike Ditka traded a package of third- and fifth-round draft picks to acquire Shuler. His play remained repugnant, as he completed just 52% of his passes for 1,288 yards with two touchdowns with an eye-gouging 14 interceptions in 1997 in 9 starts.
Of the 11 New Orleans players to wear No. 5 prior to Kendre Miller, nine wore it for a single season or less. Only one wore it for more than two years, with Miller becoming the first player drafted by the Saints to wear a No. 5 jersey. A decade after the disastrous Shuler experience, Taylor Mehlhaff became the next New Orleans player to wear No. 5. He lasted less than half a year, as the Saints brought in undrafted rookie Garrett Hartley to replace him at kicker and in the No. 5 jersey.
Hartley was a vastly underrated part of the Saints 2009 run to a Super Bowl XLIV championship. After an outstanding 2008 campaign, he was injured much of 2009 but converted 9 of 11 field goals over the last five games of that season. Hartley was perfect in the playoffs, hitting each of his 5 field goals and 12 extra points. His 40-yard field goal against the Vikings in overtime won the NFC Championship. On the biggest stage of his career, Hartley became the first kicker in Super Bowl history to make three field goals of longer than 40 yards.
Hartley played 59 regular season games for New Orleans, longer than any other player to wear No. 5. He missed only one of his 177 extra points while converting over 81% of his field goal tries. Hartley is fourth in franchise history in extra points, sixth in field goal percentage, and fifth in field goals. Kai Forbath followed Hartley in the No. 5 at kicker. Forbath had a solid 2015 season for the team, but was replaced by Wil Lutz in the beginning of the following year.
At the start of the 2018 season, New Orleans traded for quarterback Teddy Bridgewater to back up Drew Brees. Bridgewater saw little action in 2018, starting a meaningless season finale. However, he was thrust into a starting role when Brees suffered a hand injury early in 2019. Bridgewater won all five of his starts to keep the Saints atop the NFC standings. In those games, he completed nearly 68% of his throws for 1,384 yards and 9 touchdowns with only 2 interceptions. Unfortunately, the Saints were unable to hold onto Bridgewater after that season in free agency.
Former LSU Tigers star Kwon Alexander was with New Orleans for two seasons, switching from Nos. 58 to 5 during the 2021 campaign. That season, Alexander had an interception and a fumble recovery to go along with a half sack and 7 tackles for loss among his 50 total stops. Wide receiver and another ex-LSU star, Jarvis Landry, succeeded Alexander in the No. 5 uniform. Landry wore both Nos. 80 and 5 in his only year with the team and final season of a nine-year NFL career. Injuries had deteriorated Landry's play, as he managed 25 receptions for 272 yards and a score. Punter Blake Gillikin also wore No. 5 for the Saints in 2022, switching from his previous No. 4 jersey.
Wideout Lynn Bowden took over No. 5 in 2023. He appeared in 15 games that season, mostly on special teams, catching 11 passes for 83 yards. Safety Will Harris wore No. 5 for the team last year. Harris had a decent season for a struggling defense, intercepting one pass and recording 74 tackles to finish second among the team's defensive backs.
Kendre Miller enters his fourth NFL season, second in the No. 5 jersey. Miller's talent is undeniable, but so is his inability to stay in the lineup because of injuries. Miller has missed a mind-numbing 30 of 51 games because of injury. If he can actually stay on the field, Miller's skill set will make him a key weapon for the Saints offense.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: 5 days until Saints opener: Every player to wear the No. 5 jersey
