Saints-Cardinals final preseason game canceled due to Hurricane Ida

The New Orleans Saints and Arizona Cardinals were scheduled to play their preseason finale on Saturday but Hurricane Ida has forced the game to be canceled.

It’s the final week of the 2021 NFL Preseason and on the slate was scheduled to be a meeting between the Arizona Cardinals and New Orleans Saints. Unfortunately, that game has now been called off.

The Saints announced on Friday that Saturday’s game against the Cardinals would be canceled due to the increasing danger of the approaching Hurricane Ida. New Orleans had previously moved the game from an 8 p.m. ET kickoff to 1 p.m. ET due to the storm but then made the call that the safest decision was to not play the game.

Safety for the teams and the fans that would be going to the game is obviously paramount and, as Hurricane Ida becomes more intense and the possibility of severe damage grows, the organization made the right call to not play a game that, ultimately, does not matter.

The Saints and Cardinals will now have to make roster cuts based on two preseason games.

While calling off the preseason finale was the right call, it does create an interesting scenario for the Saints and Cardinals as final roster cuts loom on Tuesday, Aug. 31.

New Orleans has already named Jameis Winston their starting quarterback and Arizona largely knows who their starters are. But the final game of the preseason is usually the time that coaches use to try and finalize decisions on the margins of the roster. That opportunity to see those players is now removed.

Without question, canceling Saturday’s game was the right call for the safety of everyone involved. However, it will be interesting to see come Tuesday when final cuts are made what effects this decision has on that process for both teams that won’t get the third game to look at their depth players.