New Orleans Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler has changed his jersey number for the new season.
News of the move first leaked via X/Twitter on Friday, and Rattler took to Instagram to confirm the new number on Saturday. He'll swap from No. 18 to No. 2. He said on his story feed, "Taking it back to that 2! "
In college, Rattler wore No. 7 during his time with the South Carolina Gamecocks and Oklahoma Sooners. At Pinnacle High School in Arizona and at the Senior Bowl, Rattler wore No. 2. Kellen Mond was the last player to wear that number for the Saints during his brief time with the team.
At one point, some believed that Kool-Aid McKinstry, Chris Olave or Alontae Taylor would swap to the open number. However, McKinstry chose No. 14 and Taylor had changed from No. 27 to No. 1 in 2023. Jake Haener also made a change last year, going from No. 14 to No. 3.
In 2021, the NFL became a little more loose with jersey number restrictions. They started allowing multiple positions to wear single-digit numbers, but any player who made the switch would have to buy out any existing inventory from official distributors.
If you can believe it, only six players have wore No. 2 in Saints history. The most notable would be Aaron Brooks, who played QB for the team from 2000-2005. Zach Hocker (2015), John Kasay (2011), Chip Lohmiller (1995), Olindo Mare (2007) and Jameis Winston (2020-2023) are the others.
