Ex-Falcons star and New Orleans native Deion Jones anticipates a heady homecoming with the Saints

METAIRIE, La. (AP) — Veteran NFL linebacker Deion Jones grinned while pondering the mixed reaction he's received from friends and loved ones since signing with the New Orleans Saints.

Few can appreciate the intensity of the longstanding Saints-Falcons rivalry better than Jones, who grew up in New Orleans and began his NFL career with the Falcons as a second-round draft pick out of LSU in 2016.

“I have some friends and family that are very excited for me to be here,” Jones said after the Saints' practice Sunday, noting that he already had bumped into a few old friends from Jesuit High School. “I also have some friends that were fans of me, and Atlanta fans. So, they say they've got a lot of stuff to take back right now.”

Jones joined the Saints after a recent tryout and will have played for every team in the NFC South Division if he winds up on New Orleans' regular-season roster.

After spending his first six seasons with the Falcons, he played one season in the AFC with Cleveland before returning to the NFC South with Carolina in 2023 and Tampa Bay from 2024 through last season.

“I basically made the whole trip now” through the division, Jones said. “Full circle, back home where it all started. And I’m looking to have a lot of fun with it.”

Jones, a 2017 Pro Bowl player for Atlanta, appeared in 17 games for the Buccaneers in 2025, all as a reserve linebacker and special teams regular. He is expected to have similar roles in New Orleans.

Saints coach Kellen Moore said that while his staff hopes Jones' local roots could be an asset, that had nothing to do with his evaluation as a player.

“He's a really good football player who's had success in our division for a long time,” Moore said. "Last year he played special teams in Tampa and had a nice little success there.

“Local ties are a nice bonus,” Moore continued. “It builds in a comfort level of all of us being on the same page. He understands the expectations here and what this place is all about.”

After his first practice with Saints on Saturday, Jones joined his new teammates to watch former New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees' induction speech at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

It was poignant moment for Jones, who was in high school in New Orleans in 2009, when Brees led the Saints to the franchise's only Super Bowl title. Back then, the Saints were a symbol of hope and rebirth in their city, which was still rebuilding from the widespread devastation of Hurricane Katrina four years earlier.

Jones eschewed the opportunity to boast about the late, game-clinching interceptions he had against Brees in 2016 and 2017, one of which he returned 90 yards for a touchdown in his first-career game in the Superdome.

“I didn’t really think about” those interceptions, Jones said. “Just knowing what he did for the city, competing against him and his intensity and how he carried the team, I mean, I just loved it on the other side of the ball. It made me play better, made me want elevate my style of play.”

Jones said that even when he played for the Falcons, he enjoyed seeing the Saints do well against any team but his, understanding what they meant to his relatives and people with whom he grew up.

““It was fun, always messing with my uncles and family about being the bad guy coming to the city,” Jones said. "I’ve always been the Saints supporter. I know what the Saints do for the city. I know this is the heartbeat; if the Saints are doing well, the city’s doing well.

“I had fun coming in and trying to disrupt that every now and again,” Jones continued. "But it’s a blessing to be on this side.”

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FILE - Atlanta Falcons outside linebacker Deion Jones (45) intercepts a pass from New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, not pictured, and returns it for a touchdown, in the second half of an NFL football game in New Orleans, on Sept. 26, 2016. (AP Photo/Butch Dill, File)

UEFA, CONCACAF and the AFC believe that FIFA president Gianni Infantino's recent plans to sell an interest in the World Cup was a “fundamental breach of trust” with the institutions world soccer's governing body serves.

In an “open letter to the football family” revealed on Monday, UEFA, CONCACAF and the AFC also said that “when trust is broken through deception, when an individual places himself above the collective that entrusted him with authority, that duty has been abandoned.”

UEFA runs soccer in Europe, CONCACAF does the same for North, Central America and the Caribbean, while the AFC governs the sport in Asia.

The letter was co-signed by UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin, AFC president Salman Bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa, CONCACAF president Victor Montagliani and three general secretaries.

“Football is the world’s greatest shared passion. It belongs to no individual and no institution. It belongs to the players, the fans, the clubs, the member associations and every institution entrusted with safeguarding its future,” the open letter said. “It is in that spirit, as confederations representing its members, that we speak collectively today.”

Infantino is facing a revolt after his failed plan to sell stakes in the World Cup to private equity investors.

“It is not the conduct of a custodian of the game, but of one who believes the game is answerable to him,” the letter said. “These are not the qualities football deserves in its leadership. That is why we have taken this stance: not lightly and not alone, but together, and out of duty to the game we serve.”

UEFA previously issued a threat to boycott the World Cup and other FIFA competitions despite the governing body abandoning and apologizing for its failed plan.

Norway’s soccer federation called for Infantino to step down, while the English Football Association has also withdrawn its support for Infantino’s re-election next March.

“Football’s strength has always been its unity. We call for that unity to be honoured now,” the letter said. “For leadership that serves football, not seeks to command it.”

Last Wednesday, FIFA said it had apologized for errors made over the failed plan but that senior staff at a crisis meeting in Morocco “reaffirmed their full support” for his presidency.

However, the nature of the meeting was also met with criticism.

“FIFA’s own letter also confirms that only one elected official was present at the leadership meeting in Morocco,” the open letter said. “No FIFA Council members or Member Associations were invited to participate. Only the management committee, composed of FIFA-employed senior staff, was present.”

FIFA was also urged to go further than just acknowledging mistakes were made.

“It treats this as a failure of communication, when what football witnessed was a failure of judgment,” the letter said. “There remains no recognition that attempting to sell an interest in the FIFA World Cup was a profound failure of judgment — not just a procedural misstep, but a fundamental breach of trust with the very institutions FIFA exists to serve.”

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FIFA President Gianni Infantino arrives for the inauguration of President Abelardo de la Espriella in Cali, Colombia, Friday, Aug. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)