The New Orleans Saints defense enters it second season under defensive coordinator Rob Ryan.

Last season, the Saints ranked fourth defensively in opponent net yards per game, the Saints also gave up 9.4 points per game fewer than in 2012 as they improved to fourth in the league in opponent points per game (19.0). New Orleans allowed an average of only 305.7 net yards per game, ranking second against the pass. Compared to last sea- son's 440.1 yards allowed per game, the improvement of 134.4 net yards per game was the greatest improvement in the NFL since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger.

The duo of defensive end Cameron Jordan and outside linebacker Junior Galette posted 12.5 and 12 sacks respectively, ranking fifth and sixth in the NFL in takedowns as the only league duo to each record at least 12 sacks. Inside linebacker Curtis Lofton finished with a team-best 139 tackles. On the back end of the defense, cornerback Keenan Lewis, a New Orleans native and shrewd offseason free agent acquisition, led the team with four interceptions.

Key defensive additions:

S Jairus Byrd
DB Champ Bailey
S Marcus Ball

Key defensive departures:
S Malcolm Jenkins
S Roman Harper
DE Will Smith
DB Jabari Greer
LB Jonathan Vilma
LB Will Herring

Defensive draft picks:
Nebraska DB Stanley Jean-Baptiste
California LB Khairi Fortt
Alabama SS Vinnie Sunseri
Florida LB Ronald Powell