The New Orleans Saints and the National Football League (NFL) Foundation announced they would donate a combined $1 million to support relief efforts for victims of the Bourbon Street truck attack on New Year’s Day.
Saints owner Gayle Benson and her team announced they would donate $500,000, and the NFL Foundation said it would match that amount, bringing the total relief contribution to $1 million.
“Our community has experienced an unimaginable tragedy and our collective hearts are broken as we mourn for the victims and survivors of the New Year’s Day terror attack in New Orleans,” Benson said in a statement.
“As a league, our cities and teams compete at the highest levels of competition and share spirited rivalries. Our staffs and players work tirelessly towards achieving our goals and we share in victories and defeats. However, through football we are also united and we stand arm-in-arm against all forms of hatred. We will vanquish terror and fear with an unwavering resolve and purpose rooted in love, compassion and kindness,” Benson continued.
Benson noted that the team and the NFL are working with the Greater New Orleans Foundation and United Way to deliver the funds to victims most effectively.
“Our hearts go out to all those affected by the tragic events in New Orleans,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement. “The NFL is committed to standing with the resilient community of New Orleans during this difficult time.”
The relief contributions come after Shamsud-Din Jabbar drove a rented truck into a crowd on New Year’s Day on Bourbon Street, killing 14 people and injuring 35, according to police.
Unveiling the New Orleans Saints’ 2025 Opponents: New Places and Some Same Faces
With the Saints losing and Panthers winning, things changed up the slate of opponents for New Orleans going into 2025. Carolina finished third in the division, while the Saints sunk to dead last. Despite similar records, they don’t jump up in the draft because of the NFL’s strength of schedule formula.
Here’s what the opponent lineup looks like for the Saints in 2025.
2025 New Orleans Saints Opponents
HOME: Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Arizona Cardinals, San Francisco 49ers, New England Patriots, New York Jets, NFC East (New York Giants)
AWAY: Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Los Angeles Rams, Seattle Seahawks, NFC North (Chicago Bears), AFC South (Tennessee Titans)
Based on the finish, New Orleans will play the bottom of the division for the NFC East, NFC North and AFC South opponents. The extra 17th game will see them go to Nashville to take on the Titans.
The scheduling format has the rotation of AFC opponents every four years, and this will be the first time the Saints go up to Buffalo since 2017. That Dolphins road game was in London that season, so it’ll be the first time they’re in Miami since the Super Bowl season.
The intraconference opponents for the NFC is different obviously, with the rotation being every three years. The Saints were last in Nashville in 2021 and were actually going to be going to Jacksonville prior to the outcome of Sunday. It also swapped from Green Bay another year to Chicago to take on the Bears, where New Orleans last visited in the 2020 COVID-19 season.
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