Cam Jordan’s No. 94 New Orleans Saints jersey was neatly folded on the table, right beside the contract he was about to sign Tuesday afternoon.

The one-year deal is almost certainly the last one Jordan will sign in his illustrious NFL career.

More importantly, that black jersey beside it is the only one Jordan will ever wear.

“We are officially married forever,” Jordan said right before putting pen to paper.

This is the way it should be.

Seeing Jordan playing in any other uniform would’ve felt as odd as it did the first time you saw Archie Manning suited up for the Houston Oilers or Minnesota Vikings.

Jordan, for all he has done for not only the franchise but also the city they play in, deserves more than anyone to retire a Saint.

So kudos to Mickey Loomis and Jordan for reaching an agreement on the first day of mandatory minicamp and not turning this into a messy divorce that lingered all summer long.

The Saints, oftentimes loyal to a fault when it comes to hanging on to players from the Sean Payton era, got it right this time. Especially considering Jordan is coming off a season where he recorded a team-best 10½ sacks, the sixth-most in his 15 seasons.

If he was coming off an unproductive season, it would have been easy for the Saints to cut ties and move on from him after 15 seasons. Instead, they made an offer that Jordan didn’t refuse. Yeah, he could have refused it, but he would have been miserable.

New Orleans is his happy place.

“There’s no amount of money in the league that could make me say, ‘Hey, just turn your back on everything that you’ve built,'” Jordan said. 

So even though he and the family packed up and moved to a new home they built in Arizona, he never sold his home in Kenner, and now they are back in it.

“You see how involved I am in the community, and it feels wrong to be in another city and not giving back to this city,” Jordan said. “At least that’s how I look at it. … Everything that we want to do in the city, it would feel surreal to not be here.”

Jordan released a video on social media right before signing that concluded with these words: One Team. One City. One Final Season.

He’ll get to climb even higher on the NFL all-time sacks list and make an even stronger case for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He said he thinks he punched his ticket to the Hall of Fame when he reached 120 sacks.

He’s currently at 132 sacks, which ranks 17th on the all-time sacks list. Another season like last year would vault him into the sixth spot.

A season half as productive as last year would get him into the top 12 range. Even more impressive is he’s done it all with the same team. The only two players to play their entire career with one team and have more sacks than Jordan are Hall of Famers Lawrence Taylor and Michael Strahan, who both starred for the New York Giants.

Jordan is a giant in his own right in New Orleans. Since the season ended, he couldn’t go anywhere around the city without fans asking him the same question as he dealt with free agency for the very first time.

“The people of New Orleans, in the kindest way, are so familial,” Jordan said. “So they are like, ‘Why aren’t you coming back home?’ And that hits.”

Others were trying to encourage him to come back, too. The text messages and phone calls came from younger players like Tyler Shough and Bryan Bresee and former Saints like Craig Robertson, Mark Ingram and Demario Davis. 

The latter three he refers to as his “main three ‘get your a– back in the building’ guys.”

Jordan admits that there were some bumps along the way in the negotiations. But in the end, things worked out, and both sides seem pleased.

Based on the smiles that Jordan, his wife, Nikki, and four children wore Tuesday, they were thrilled to be back in the building.

“I’m happy to be back in New Orleans,” said Tank, his 11-year old son.

Jordan wouldn’t admit it Tuesday, but you just know it was eating at him to miss OTAs the past three weeks and the first day of minicamp. Jordan rarely takes days off, whether it’s practice or a game. He’s only missed two games in his career (one because of COVID-19 and another after an eye injury).

As reliable as he is on the field, he’s just as reliable off of it. He uses his off days during the season to visit schools in the city. His longevity, reliability, productivity and work in the community are enough to have earned him a spot on my Mount Rushmore of greatest Saints players ever.

Drew Brees, one of those on that Mount Rushmore with him, reached out to Jordan to try to encourage him to finish his career in New Orleans.

“Black and gold bleeds forever,” Brees reminded Jordan.

Football, though, doesn’t last forever.

Jordan turns 37 in July.

He understands he’s approaching the finish line.

“I’m definitely going to take to this like every game is my last, every play,” Jordan said.

Jordan has played in 243 games.

All 243 of those have been in a Saints uniform, more than any other player in team history.

Saints fans should be grateful it’s the only uniform one of the greatest players in franchise history will ever wear.