UPDATE: due to the impending impact of Hurricane Ida, the Saints-Cardinals game has been canceled https://t.co/q5RTCdQCuV
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) August 27, 2021
The NFL initially rescheduled the New Orleans Saints’ final preseason game at the Caesars Superdome on Saturday, Aug. 28 in the face of inclement weather, but now they won’t be playing the Arizona Cardinals at all. Hours after announcing the decision to move kickoff to an earlier time slot, the Saints have now said that their preseason will end early.
It’s a tough call, but it’s what’s best for everyone’s safety with a major hurricane on the horizon. Tropical Storm Ida strengthened into a hurricane on Friday afternoon, and it is expected to intensify further over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico this weekend before slamming into the Louisiana Gulf Coast on Sunday. The New Orleans mayor’s office has already ordered citywide voluntary evacuations (with mandatory evacuations ordered to those communities outside the protective levees).
Losing that opportunity to put any further snaps on game tape will hurt the players on the fringe of both teams’ rosters, but it isn’t worth putting anyone at risk or clogging transportation routes in or out of New Orleans. Stay tuned for further news and updates with the NFL’s roster cuts deadline just around the corner on Tuesday, Aug. 31. And if you’re anywhere close to Ida’s projected landfall, be prepared.
