Top-100 New Orleans Saints of All-Time: 80-71

Who’s better?

That question is asked, and those debates happen every day amongst sports fans.

Trying to compare players of a common position and era are tough enough. Once you introduce grouping all positions together, regardless of when they played, what the talent pool was or what the rules were during their NFL careers, the answers get arbitrary.

We combined four sources to come up with our list of the Top-100 New Orleans Saints players of all time. Rankings for all players were averages comprised of contributions from pro-football-reference.com (Twitter: @pfref), Jeremy Trottier of the canalstreetchronicles.com (Twitter @ClutchWDN), Billy Gunn of the ‘Taking the Over with Billy Gunn’ Podcast (Twitter & Instagram: @takingtheover) and John Butler of canalstreetchronicles.com and the Saintjohnbutler YouTube channel (Twitter & Instagram: @Saintjohnbutler).

This is our list of New Orleans Saints 80-71:

80: LeCharles Bentley, C (2002-2005)

A second-round draft choice by the Saints in 2002, Bentley played the majority of his career in New Orleans. Bentley was a Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA) All-Rookie Team member as well as a 2-time Pro Bowler while in New Orleans and was a big part of Aaron Brooks’ success in New Orleans.

79: Fred Thomas, CB (2000-2007)

After serving out his rookie contract in Seattle, Thomas found his way to New Orleans and his career blossomed. A well-rounded corner, Thomas was just as likely to stop a run in the box, tally a sack or snatch an interception in a big spot.

78: Michael Lewis, WR/KR (2001-2006)

A New Orleans native, “Beer Man” bounced around a host of different pro football leagues before finally landing a roster spot with the Saints. Lewis’ story is like something right out of the movies, going from Budweiser truck driver to an NFL Pro Bowler. He is a Saints Hall of Famer.

77: Andrus Peat, G (2015-Present)

Just looking at the numbers, Peat has lived up to the first-round selection that the Saints used to acquire his services. In his young career, Peat is already a 3-time Pro Bowler and protected Drew Brees during some very prolific offensive seasons for the Saints.

76: Doug Atkins, DE (1967-1969)

Another Saints Hall of Famer, Atkins finished his career with the inaugural Saints of the 60’s. The list of Atkins’ accomplishments during his time in the NFL is gaudy and includes being an 8-time Pro Bowler, a 7-time All-Pro (1 first team, 6 second team), 2-time NFL champion and countless post-NFL awards.

75: Frank Wattelet, S, (1981-1987)

Undrafted out of Kansas, Wattelet made the most of his opportunities. Starting out as a special teams player, Wattelet quickly made the jump into the starting lineup, where he remained for the rest of his career. He currently sits at 14^th in Saints history in interceptions.

74: Jammal Brown, OT (2005-2009)

A first-round draft choice by the Saints in 2005, Brown was an immediate impact player. In his 5 seasons in New Orleans, Brown achieved First-Team All-Pro honors, as well as 2 Pro Bowl selections. Brown was a model of consistency and durability during his career. He concluded his time in New Orleans as a member of the Super Bowl Champion 2009 squad before heading to Washington to finish his career.

73: Henry Childs, TE (1974-1980)

Childs’ arrival in New Orleans brought the first tight end to truly be used as an offensive weapon. The Pro Bowler was one of Archie Manning’s favorite targets. Childs’ play earned him a spot in the Saints Hall of Fame.

72: Chuck Muncie, RB (1976-1980)

Muncie got his start in the NFL as the third overall selection in the 1976 NFL draft by the Saints. Muncie and Tony Galbreath were known as the lethal “Thunder and Lightning” duo in the late 70’s. Muncie would earn PFWA All-Rookie honors and a Pro Bowl selection during his 5 years with the Saints before heading to San Diego, where he earned 2 more Pro Bowl selections and a rushing title.

71: John Carney, K (2001-2006, 2009-2010)

Carney, another Saints Hall of Famer, retired as the number 2 all-time leading scorer in NFL history. Aside from his countless accolades during his career (Pro Bowls, All-Pro, scoring leader, etc.), he was also instrumental in working with Thomas Morstead on ‘Ambush’, a play that changed in the momentum in the Saints’ Super Bowl XLIV victory.

Be sure to keep an eye out for the rest of the top-100 list.

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