This isn’t news to the thousands of New Orleans Saints fans who have already preordered his jersey, but Tyrann Mathieu hasn’t made an official decision on which number he’ll be wearing in front of his hometown. He’s spent the summer so far in No. 32, which he’s worn at other stops in the NFL, and it’s got a special meaning to him — add three and two and you’ll get five, representing his grandmother’s Fifth Ward community. He’s said before that he’d like to wear No. 5 outright, and now he’s closer to that opportunity.
Once Mathieu makes that decision final, jerseys will head to the printers and rush out to waiting fans. Choosing NO. 32 instead was a nice compromise with the NFL’s restrictive jersey number rules limiting who could rep single digits, but now that this is behind us Mathieu can finally wear the No. 5 jersey he’s wanted all along (as opposed to the No. 7 he starred in at LSU, which Taysom Hill won’t be eager to give up, having chosen it back in 2016 at BYU to honor his late brother). Well, that would be the case, if Andy Dalton hadn’t taken it sooner.
Now, you’d think it would be easy to tell Dalton to come off that No. 5 so Mathieu’s new jersey can soar to the top of NFL sales charts. But it’s not that easy. Right now there isn’t another number that Dalton, a quarterback, would be eligible for. Everything from Nos. 1 to 19 has already been claimed, with two exceptions that won’t ever be issued again in New Orleans: Archie Manning’s No. 8 and Drew Brees’ No. 9. The Saints haven’t officially retired either jersey, but they’re not in circulation, either. They certainly won’t dust off one of them for circumstances like these.
So what’s to be done? This thing will play out one way or another, possibly by way of Mathieu sticking with No. 32, but let’s go down the rabbit hole and see where it takes us.
It helps that Dalton probably doesn’t want No. 5, himself. He’s worn No. 14 throughout his NFL career and in college at TCU, and it’s a safe bet that he’d like to pick it back up in New Orleans. The problem is that Mark Ingram ended up with it after his return to the Saints in a midseason trade last year. He and fan-favorite defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson were open to him getting No. 22 (which he wore with the Saints previously), but the NFL spiked those plans by determining Gardner-Johnson couldn’t change his number in the middle of the season. Back to the drawing-board.
Maybe Ingram could be convinced to take No. 28 (his first Saints jersey number) — if it weren’t already taken by backup running back Devine Ozigbo. If Ozigbo doesn’t make it through roster cuts later this year, that’s a possibility, but you’d think that Ingram would have already made a move if he were going to, whether that means buying it from his younger teammate or simply doing the same with Gardner-Johnson for No. 22. Ingram could also go with one of the few remaining running back-eligible numbers (Nos. 40, 43, and 47), but that isn’t likely given his preference for the lower digits.
So, yeah, there’s kind of a domino effect in play here if the end goal is to get Mathieu into No. 5. Dalton would have to switch (preferably to his old No. 14), as would Ingram (either to Nos. 22 or 28, likely), which would push yet another player out of their chosen jersey. That’s a lot of work for something as simple as a jersey number. But as we’ve just explored, players don’t pick their number carelessly. There’s real sentimental value in them as a bond between these people and their families, and it’s important to be respectful of that.
Where does that leave us — and the large segment of fans waiting to see which jersey they’ll be wearing on Sundays in the fall? We’re in stasis. Things could change in a hurry if Mathieu is able to cut a deal with a teammate or if that startlingly precise series of events takes off to get him in No. 5 and keep (almost) everyone else happy. We’ll keep an eye out in case of movement, but my guess is that Mathieu will hang onto No. 32, given all the hurdles in front of him. Honestly, it’s pretty low-stakes as far as offseason drama goes in the NFL, but that’s July for you.
