Saints guard Dillon Radunz has sustained a torn ACL, as Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football was among those to report. Radunz’s second season with the club has thus come to a premature end.
This is the second ACL tear of Radunz’s NFL career. A second-round pick of the Titans in 2021, the North Dakota State alum earned just one start as a rookie and was limited to 11 games (four starts) in 2022 due to the first ACL injury.
Over the course of his limited action in his first two years in the pros, Radunz lined up at both guard spots and at left tackle. His versatility was again on display in 2023, as he started 11 games out of 16 total appearances and saw action at every OL position except center.
Radunz found a home at right guard in 2024, starting 15 games at the position in what would be his final year in Nashville. Although Pro Football Focus gave him a favorable score for his pass-blocking acumen, his run-blocking grade brought down his overall marks and placed him 58th among 77 qualified guards that year. It seems the league concurred with PFF’s assessment, as Radunz settled for a one-year, $2.25MM pact with the Saints last March.
He started 10 games in 2025, lining up almost exclusively at left guard. While his PFF showing was even worse than the year before (72nd out of 79 qualifiers), New Orleans did retain him on a two-year, $6.9MM accord to serve as experienced depth behind marquee free agent addition David Edwards and incumbent Cesar Ruiz.
The Saints did add Jeremiah Wright in the fourth round of this year’s draft. Mike Triplett of NewOrleans.Football suggests the Radunz injury could result in a larger role for Wright than the team may have originally anticipated.
As ESPN’s Katherine Terrell reported, Radunz and Julian Blackmon both sustained knee injuries during Saturday’s practice. Luckily, Blackmon fared much better than his teammate, with Terrell reporting the veteran safety was back at practice on Sunday.
DE Cameron Jordan is also contending with an injury, with Triplett reporting the franchise icon has a “possibly concerning” hamstring ailment. In June, Jordan signed a one-year deal with a base value of $7.5MM to return to the only pro club he has ever known. Although expectations would naturally be tempered for any 37-year-old EDGE, Jordan did have a resurgent peformance in 2025 and posted 10.5 sacks, the first time he had hit double-digits since 2021. The Saints are naturally hoping for some pass rushing prowess in Jordan’s 16th season.
