The New Orleans Saints have lost one of their best defensive players before the 2025 season even begins. Former first-round pick Bryan Bresee, the ascending interior defensive lineman out of Clemson, has suffered a torn ACL in training camp that will likely cost him the entire 2025 season.

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This is a major blow to a Saints defense that was counting on Bresee to take another leap heading into the prime of his career. New Orleans had already picked up his fifth-year option, valued at over $13 million, tying the 24-year-old to the team through 2027. The commitment signaled just how highly the organization views him, and for good reason.

Bresee’s production speaks for itself

Bresee tallied 7.5 sacks in 2024 and has racked up over 14.5 during his three years in New Orleans. He doesn’t turn 25 until around the start of the regular season, and he was poised to enter a contract year in 2027 with momentum as one of the league’s up and coming interior pass rushers.

The truth is, Bresee may not carry the national name recognition of some of his peers. But people who know the Saints, people who study the interior defensive line position across the NFL, understand that he has quickly become one of the better players at his position in the entire league. His ability to collapse the pocket from the inside separates him from the pack, and losing that for a full year leaves a hole New Orleans simply cannot replicate through depth alone.

The long-term question looms large

There is no way around it. The Saints were banking on Bresee to anchor their defensive front in 2025, and now they’ll have to find a way to survive without him. The immediate impact on New Orleans’ pass rush will be significant, but the longer-term concern might be even more important.

The question now becomes what Bresee will look like when he returns in 2027 on that final year of his fifth-year option. ACL recoveries have improved dramatically across the NFL, and younger players tend to bounce back more effectively. But returning from a torn ACL and recapturing the dominance he showed before the injury is never a guarantee, no matter the age.

For a player who was on the verge of entering the conversation as a top-tier interior defender, the timing could not be worse. The Saints will have to reassess their defensive line depth in the short term while hoping their long-term investment in Bresee still pays off when he’s back on the field.