Tyrann Mathieu hasn’t chosen his Saints jersey number, preorders still crashed NFL website

We knew there would be a high demand for Tyrann Mathieu jerseys once the New Orleans Saints introduced their newest free agent signing on Wednesday (on May 4, or “504 Day,” it should be noted), but it’s still shocking to see just how strongly this move energized the fanbase. Saints fans rushed to place preorders for Mathieu’s jersey in such great numbers that it temporarily overwhelmed their servers and crashed the website, as first observed by NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill.

It’s back online now, though, and if you’re still interested you can place a preorder at this link (men and women’s jerseys are both listed at $129.99, and will ship once Mathieu’s number is finalized). Mathieu has not yet chosen which jersey number he will wear in black and gold, having picked No. 32 (currently claimed by second-year defensive back Bryce Thompson) at each of his stops in the NFL with the Kansas City Chiefs, Houston Texans, and Arizona Cardinals. In college at LSU he wore Nos. 7 (Taysom Hill) and 14 (Mark Ingram II).

For his part, Mathieu isn’t too worried about it right now. When asked about which number he would prefer to wear in New Orleans at his introductory press conference, Mathieu responded: “To be honest, I don’t — they can give me any number, to be honest. Like I said I just want to play good ball and do good things in the community.”

Still, it’ll be fun to see which number Mathieu ends up with. It doesn’t feel likely that Ingram will stay in No. 14 after trying to buy No. 22 off of standout defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson after his midseason trade, only to be foiled by NFL rules. Thompson may not stick on the roster long, too. But Hill is probably determined to hang onto his No. 7 jersey, which he has worn since 2016 at BYU to honor his late brother.

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