The Bucs and Saints don’t like each other. It’s worth going as far as saying they hate each other, really.

Historically, Saints-Falcons has been the marquee rivalry in the NFC South. But as much as Saints players and fans may deny it, Bucs-Saints has become nastier and more contentious in recent years. The heat between the two teams has been turned up time and again, no matter how much New Orleans defensive end Cameron Jordan claims otherwise.

Saints DE Cameron Jordan – Photo by: USA Today

Whether he realizes it or not, it’s actually been Jordan who has done some of the most work to build up this rivalry — at least off the field. He takes shots at the Bucs any time he gets a chance.

He taunted Donovan Smith when the former Tampa Bay left tackle signed an extension with the team in 2019. When Tom Brady retired in 2023, Jordan claimed the Bucs would go back to the depths of the division and then he doubled down on it even after they split the season series and Tampa Bay three-peated as NFC South champions in Baker Mayfield’s first year as Brady’s successor.

Yep, went back to being the Bucs! Champs again. pic.twitter.com/osLQpp8LBl

— Jason Licht (@jasonrlicht) January 7, 2024

Back in February, Jordan also pointed out Ryan Jensen — while acting like he didn’t know his name — as a player he’d like to fight.

That’s a lot of talk about a team that isn’t the Saints’ rival, isn’t it?

New Orleans did run the division for a long while under Sean Payton and Drew Brees — and the team even won its first four regular season games against Tampa Bay in Brady’s first two seasons with the team. But the Bucs won the one that mattered most in the 2020 season NFC Divisional Round, as they retired Brees by winning at the Superdome on their way to winning Super Bowl LV.

Bucs DT Vita Vea and Saints QB Derek Carr – Photo by: USA Today

And since Todd Bowles became Tampa Bay’s head coach in 2022, his team is 3-1 against New Orleans and has won two more division titles to make it three in a row heading into 2024. The two teams have been fighting it out for the top spot in the NFC South, and they’ve done so with some physical and fiery matchups.

Despite all of that and despite the fact that there have been a few on-field incidents between the two teams over the last several years, a lot of Saints fans will say they agree with Jordan and refute the idea of the Bucs being a rival. It’s all about the Falcons. But everyone knows the truth by now. The Bucs and Saints aren’t rivals? Well, I guess they just hate each other and have a tendency to get into it on and off the field on a regular basis. If only there was a word for that…

Derek Carr Weighs In On Bucs-Saints Rivalry

During an interview with Barstool Sports’ Dan “Big Cat” Katz and PFT Commenter on Wednesday’s episode of Pardon My Take, Saints quarterback Derek Carr weighed in on the hatred between New Orleans and Tampa Bay.

Asked how long he was a member of the Saints before he started hating the Bucs, Carr made the New Orleans perspective pretty clear.

“It didn’t take me long,” Carr said. “Because literally, they talk about the Bucs and the Falcons… I was like, ‘Well, what about the Panthers? But the Falcons and the Bucs, in our building and around town, there’s a real hatred. For some southern, really kind people, they really hate those teams.”

Bucs WR Mike Evans and Saints CB Marshon Lattimore – Photo by: USA Today

So much of the on-field heat between the two sides has centered on a rivalry between Bucs wide receiver Mike Evans and Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore. That’s something that Carr referenced further.

“Especially with Marshon,” he said. “With Latt, Latt’s competitive. So him and Mike, they be getting after it.”

Carr then elaborated some more on the personal rivalries within the beef between the two teams, once again pointing to the Evans-Lattimore matchup.

“I think there’s some deep personal stuff there, where people are just like, ‘I just hate that man,’” Carr said. “When we come in that week and you’re like, ‘All right, ‘Shon, you’ve got Mike.’ It’s like, he just blacks out for five days. You’re like, ‘Oh, he’ll be ready on Sunday.’”

It sure sounds like this is a rivalry, doesn’t it? But don’t be surprised if we hear Cameron Jordan, the arbiter of rivalries, say otherwise at some point between now and the first meeting between the two teams in 2024.

The Bucs and Saints will renew their rivalry that supposedly isn’t a rivalry in Week 6 of the 2024 season when Tampa Bay travels to the Superdome for a 1:00 p.m. kickoff. New Orleans then makes the return trip to Raymond James Stadium to close out the season in Week 18.