You'd be excused for overlooking Chase Young's dominance to start the 2026 season, but he's worth going back to the tape for another look. The New Orleans Saints defense has struggled badly through the first half of the season in spite of his efforts; Young has been credited with seven sacks in his first seven games, notching at least half a sack in five of them. That's good for second-most in the NFL this year. He's been phenomenal rushing off the right side of the formation, working against teams' best blockers at left tackle, and winning a lot of those high-profile matchups.
And he's on pace to match the Saints' franchise record for sacks in a single season. By averaging a sack per game, Young is on track to collect 17 of them if he can stay healthy all year. "Dome Patrol" legend Pat Swilling set the high-water mark back in 1989, with 16.5 sacks in 16 games. Then he broke his own record in 1991 with 17 of them. Another Saints player wouldn't match him until the year 2000 when La'Roi Glover did it. Nobody else got close until Cameron Jordan peaked with 15.5 sacks in 2019 (tying the great Wayne Martin's personal-best from 1992).
Now Jordan has passed the baton to Young, who has flourished rushing off the edge in Brandon Staley's defense. Young posted a career-high 10 sacks in 12 games last year and picked up right where he left off this season. All told, he's up to 17 sacks in his last 19 games (and 22.5 in 36 games). That ranks sixth-most in the NFL since the start of the 2025 season, and only Myles Garrett has more sacks in fewer games played than he does (23 sacks in 18 games). The 27-year old has become a much-needed bright spot in an otherwise dreary year.
With just one more year left on his contract and a soaring salary cap, the Saints would be wise to approach Young about an extension before they risk letting him reach the free agent market in 2028. Just like they paid big to keep Chris Olave, New Orleans will need to invest top dollar in Young. We're talking about an average per year north of $40 million, just like Garrett, Danielle Hunter ($40.1 million per year for 19 sacks in 24 games), Aidan Hutchinson ($45 million for 19.5 sacks in 23 games) and Will Anderson Jr. ($50 million for 19.5 sacks in 24 games). The Saints have shown us before they can structure contracts creatively to take advantage of a rising salary cap. With the spending limit forecast to reach $327 million next year, paying Young makes sense. He's already proven to be worth the investment.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Chase Young on pace to tie Saints' single-season sacks record