New Orleans Saints

Saints superstar Cameron Jordan says there's NO WAY IN HELL Ben Roethlisberger is a Hall of Famer ... saying the Steelers stud ain't even a top 5 QB of this era.

"I'd honestly put Eli before I put Ben," Cam says.

The piping hot take came straight from the Saints' locker room this week ... when Jordan scoffed at a reporter's insinuation that Big Ben is a surefire HOFer.

"Is that true?! Really?! In this era, you'd put him at like a top three of this era?! A top five of this era?!"

Cam certainly doesn't think so ... saying he'd have Drew Brees, Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Peyton Manning, Philip Rivers AND Eli Manning over the Pittsburgh superstar.

It's a smoldering take from the New Orleans pass rusher -- who just made his fourth Pro Bowl -- 'cause most not only have Ben as a Hall of Famer, but a 1st-ballot one at that.

Big Ben is a two-time Super Bowl champ, a six-time Pro Bowler AND owns a career 143-68-1 record as a starter.

Best news for all of us?? Ben gets to face off against Cam in a must-win game this weekend ... and will have every opportunity to prove Jordan wrong then.

Sorry, ladies ... Alvin Kamara's smooth vocals won't be hitting the radio waves anytime soon -- 'cause the Saints RB says he has NO plans to pursue an R&B career despite his dope voice!!

Of course, Kamara SLAYED R. Kelly's "12 Play" at karaoke after beating up the Bucs on Sunday ... which caused some to wonder -- could the NFL star have a future in music??

We asked the New Orleans superstar straight-up at the Sports Illustrated Sportsperson Of The Year ceremony in L.A. Tuesday night ... and, sadly, he says no.

"Nah, nah. I play football!"

It's too bad ... Kamara can SANG -- and dudes like Cole Beasley and Le'Veon Bell have managed to do both football AND music!!

But, Alvin tells us that's gonna be a big no from him.

Alvin Kamara was singing -- and the girls were swooning ... 'cause after the Saints beat the Bucs on Sunday, A.K. hit up a restaurant party and SLAAAYYYYED some R. Kelly!!

It all went down at Morrow's in New Orleans -- where Kamara popped by after taking down Tampa Bay to get on the mic for some karaoke.

The star RB's song of choice? R. Kelly's "12 Play" -- and while we only got a snippet of his vocals in the vid ... dude had the crowd (full of girls) swaying!!

It's interesting -- Alvin and the Saints played IN Florida on Sunday morning ... so, pretty impressive the dude made it out to crash the bar's shindig when he got back to Louisiana.

Then again ... the Saints DID lock up the NFC South with the win AND took over first place in the NFC with the Rams' loss.

Brett Favre -- a three-time NFL MVP -- has weighed in ... and Drew Brees is killin' it ... but he's not the league's current most valuable player.

"I would say right now, I'd probably have to give it to Mahomes," Brett tells TMZ Sports.

It's not exactly a nuclear take from the Packers legend -- most have Brees and Patrick Mahomes as the top 2 candidates for the award -- but Favre says the younger QB gets his nod.

"What Mahomes has done in his first year is incredible."

You can tell it kinda pains Brett to say it -- Brees IS, after all, one of the last old dudes standing in a young man's game -- but Favre still showed Drew some major love anyway.

In fact ... Brett also shouted another old QB who's killin' it this season -- saying Philip Rivers deserves some praise for his huge season too!

As for Mahomes ... Brett didn't go all Dick Vermeil on us and say the Chiefs superstar can be one of the greatest to ever play -- but he also didn't exactly disagree with the ex-coach!!

Jamie Foxx was FEEEEEEEEEELLLLIIINNNN' himself after the Cowboys beat the Saints ... 'cause dude broke out ALL his Dallas jerseys and had a dance party in his living room!!

The 'Boys scored a massive win over New Orleans on Thursday night in a game nobody predicted them to win ... and Foxx turned up like they just earned the Lombardi Trophy.

Jamie -- rockin' an Emmitt Smith throwback -- threw down some epic dance moves to "We Dem Boyz" ... and then started the trash talk.

"I told y'all! Don't ever go against us! We them boys! I told y'all, them Saints was going to be turning into Aints today! I told ya!"

Jamie then took aim at ESPN personality and noted Cowboys hater Stephen A. Smith, saying, "First of all, you have to understand that the Cowboys are America's Team, and now you understand why!"

Jamie's got every right to be happy ... the win was pretty dope -- but nobody tell him Dallas is just one game away from being out of the current playoff picture.

Drew Brees deserves the MVP this season ... AND it's time we start talking about him as the greatest of all time ahead of Tom Brady -- so says his ex-Saints teammate Lance Moore.

TMZ Sports spoke with the WR who won a Super Bowl with Brees back in 2009 -- and he's dying to know what more Drew needs to do to finally get the respect he believes the QB deserves.

"I don't know how else you would quantify the greatest of all time," Lance says.

"If you're talking statistics, Drew's the all-time completion leader, all-time completion percentage leader, all-time yards leader, he's second in touchdowns -- what more do you want from this guy?!"

Of course, Lance is a bit biased ... dude did play with Drew for 8 years in New Orleans -- but he says that only strengthens his argument for why Brees belongs above Brady.

"I was with the guy forever and I know not just how great of a player and how he prepares, but how great of a person he is."

Don't get it twisted ... Moore says he's still got Brady along with Peyton Manning in his all-time top 3 -- it's just he's got Drew leading the pack.

We also spoke with Lance about N.O.'s star receiver, Michael Thomas ... and he explains why M.T. can secure a spot over both Joe Horn AND Marques Colston as the best Saints wideout ever down the road.

AND ... if you're looking for a Super Bowl prediction, Moore gave us one of those too.

Dez Bryant's callin' his Achilles surgery Tuesday a huge success ... straight from his hospital bed -- while feelin' loopy as hell!!!

The wideout, after just 2 days with the New Orleans Saints, popped his Achilles tendon in practice last week and needed surgery to repair the mess.

That operation just went down ... and, per a completely drugged out Dez, it went well!!

"I just finished surgery. I'm out," Dez says with a laugh. "God is great. Thank everybody for the support."

In case you didn't believe the superstar receiver ... Dez put his doc on the screen to confirm the good news.

"Everything went well. Success! Nothing to worry about."

Dez Bryant's done for the season ... but the Broncos would be stoked to have him on their squad next year -- so says one of Denver's star D-lineman.

TMZ Sports got Domata Peko out in Bev Hills enjoying the Broncos' bye week -- when we had to ask, does he think Dez can come back from the torn Achilles he suffered last week?

Peko said of course ... saying one of his ex-Bengals teammates proves that.

"Achilles are tough, man. One of my homies, though, his name is Leon Hall and he had two Achilles and he's still playing. So, yeah, man, he can come back."

Domata then told us he'd love to be teammates with Dez in 2019 -- if the wideout wants to come to Mile High.

"We'll take whoever, anybody, to help us win!"

One problem? Bryant might be a wanted man -- the Saints seemed fired up about the WR, despite only having him on the roster for two days, and say they want him back in 2019.

But first, Dez has gotta get healthy -- something Peko thinks the 30-year-old ex-superstar can easily do.

2:04 PM PT -- Dez just tweeted ... "Things was just starting to heat up for me... I won’t question the man upstairs... this is the ultimate test.. thank you everyone for the prayers."

Dez Bryant suffered an injury while practicing with the New Orleans Saints on Friday -- and people are worried it could be a torn Achilles tendon which would end his season.

The WR -- who just signed with the Saints earlier this week -- was running a route when he collapsed. He was carted off the practice field and taken to get an MRI.

The team is already looking at replacement wideouts -- including Brandon Marshall -- according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.

Dez just signed a $600k deal with the Saints to play in the team's remaining 8 games of the season earlier this week ... and may have even seen game action as early as next week against the Eagles.

But, all that's on hold for now while the 30-year-old star awaits the results of the MRI.

Bryant was selected in the 1st round of the 2010 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys and was selected to go to the Pro Bowl 3 different times. He led the league in receiving TDs in 2014.

Bryant suffered a foot injury during the 2015 season and his production never really recovered.

Curren$y just got his favorite player the best "thanks for helping my team win" gift ever ... a blinged-out Rolex watch!!!

Alvin Kamara's been KILLIN' it this season -- scoring 12 touchdowns in 9 games -- and as a big-ass Saints fan, Curren$y just had to let the RB know how much he appreciated it.

So ... the rapper hit the jewelry store before Alvin's monster game against the Rams last weekend -- and got the New Orleans stud an ICY Rolex gift.

Kamara picked it up after the W ... and Curren$y wrote of the present, "Don’t even trip G.... keep puttin that work in for my city bro."

Michael Vick's down for touchdown celebrations ... but when it comes to pullin' out cell phones in the endzone like Michael Thomas did Sunday??

"It's way too much," the Falcons legend tells TMZ Sports ... "It's way too much."

The Saints superstar wideout put an exclamation point on New Orleans' win over the Rams by whippin' out a Joe Horn-style phone call after a 72-yard TD in the 4th quarter.

It was flagged ... but Horn (and a buncha others) loved it -- with the ex-Saints star telling NOLA.com, "I teared up."

But, Vick clearly didn't feel the same way ... saying the old, cell-phone-under-the-goal-post routine is bad for the sport!!

"Nah, nah, nah. No cell phones," Vick tells us ... "We don't want to corrupt the game like that."

Cool candid moment between Kirk Cousins and Teddy Bridgewater on Sunday -- when the new Vikings QB told the old Vikings QB how they REALLY feel about him in Minnesota these days.

Teddy and the Saints were in Minnesota to play Kirk and the Vikings -- but after the game, Cousins tracked down Bridgewater and told him what the Vikings execs have been saying behind his back.

"Everyone here speaks really highly of you," Kirk said to Teddy ... "You left a good mark on the organization."

Yeah, they love him!

Of course, Bridgewater -- the Vikings' 2014 1st-round pick -- WAS the future of Minnesota ... before a gnarly knee injury nearly ended his football career in 2016.

Teddy fought to get back onto the field ... but wasn't able to start a game for Minnesota after the 2015 season and moved on to the Jets this offseason.

Bridgewater is now Drew Brees' backup after the Saints traded for him in the preseason ... and if you're listening to Cousins -- everyone in purple and gold couldn't be happier for him.

Drew Brees -- the greatest-ever New Orleans ... Pelican????

Pierre Thomas says that definitely coulda been a thing if Drew never picked up a football ... 'cause the ex-Saints running back says his former QB could BALL!!!!

"He can play some basketball -- he's got some skills," Thomas tells TMZ Sports ... "I used to call him White Chocolate."

Thomas spent 8 seasons with Brees in New Orleans -- the two won a Super Bowl together -- and Pierre swears the 6-foot QB coulda made a serious run at the NBA.

In fact ... Pierre says the dude might've had a real shot at the MLB too!!!!!

"Football is not the only gift that man has," Thomas says ... "They got that movie 'White Man Can't Jump,' but no, he can jump!"

We've unearthed some footage of Brees with a basketball hoop ... and it begs the question -- do we believe Pierre????

Michael Irvin tells TMZ Sports he's straight-up perplexed by Dez Bryant's plan to wait until the season has begun to sign with a team ... saying the receiver NEEDS a squad ASAP!!

Remember ... Dez was hot and heavy with the Browns earlier this month -- but he turned down their offer and then said he's going to wait until "a lil bit later in the year" to find a roster.

Count Michael in the camp that thinks that's a silly decision ... 'cause he tells us his no. 1 piece of advice to Dez would be to get on a team NOW.

"I do know who's representing him, and I'm just a little bit confused with the direction that they are trying to go here," Michael says.

"I would tell him to find a team and get on a team. Find a team. Get on a team. Get back to belonging somewhere. Right now, you're like a vagabond where you don't have a team and you're wondering."

FYI ... Irvin says he has NO DOUBT Dez can return to All-Pro form -- he just needs to go somewhere as soon as possible so he can show that Week 1.

By the way ... Michael also tells us he loves the fit Teddy Bridgewater found when he was traded from the Jets to the Saints on Wednesday, saying T.B. can be the future after Drew Brees.

Reggie Bush says Drew Brees will call it a career after this season only if the Saints do one thing ... WIN THE SUPER BOWL!!

There's been a lot of talk about Brees' potential retirement lately -- the dude does turn 40 in January -- so, we went to one of his ex-New Orleans teammates to get a read on the situation.

Bush was blunt ... telling TMZ Sports there's no way the QB calls it quits after this season -- UNLESS the Saints get a ring.

Alvin Kamara is pretty sure Le'Veon Bell is about to make his wallet a whole lot fatter ... 'cause the Saints star says Bell's big contract demands are going to revolutionize how RBs are paid.

We got the NFL's reigning Rookie of the Year outside The Highlight Room when he praised Le'Veon for balking at the Steelers' long-term offer for the second straight year.

"All I know is Le'Veon is about to change something up for us," he says.

The money talk didn't stop there ... Kamara gave us his thoughts on why NFL contracts aren't fully guaranteed, saying it's all the owners' faults.

And, while we were on the subject ... Kamara told us the WNBA needs to pay its players some more cheddar too -- especially the Chicago Sky, where his girlfriend plays.

"They doing all the same things males are doing," he tells us.

FYI ... Kamara's rookie deal with the Saints expires after the 2020 season -- and here's a sneak peak into how those negotiations will look ... probably.