Junior Galette: Current New Orleans Saints defenders better than veterans they replaced | NOLA.com

"I mean, c'mon, who are you talking about?" He asked, laughing. "The guys that replaced them are better than they were."

Galette, of course, was talking about departed veterans like Will Smith, Roman Harper, Malcolm Jenkins and Jonathan Vilma.

"Here, the guys that replaced them are better than the guys we had. It's not even close. Across the board," Galette said. "I'll take Kenny Vaccaro any day over any safety. And I'll take (Cam Jordan) over any defensive end. Jairus Byrd over any safety."

Vilma and Smith were the only names he mentioned specifically.

"Lofton is putting up numbers Vilma never put up. So. It is what it is," Galette said.

Lofton has consistently been one of the top tacklers in the league and currently ranks No. 5 with 110 combined tackles.

Galette, a team captain, made his point in reference to a lack of leadership the Saints have been accused of having since losing the veterans. That's not the case, he said.

"They asked me something about leadership qualities, do you feel like this team's missing ... I'm like no," he said. "I feel like we have the leaders we have here now are just better than the leaders we had in the past. You know, I've been here. It is what it is. Yeah, they won a Super Bowl. But we're young and we'll get through it."

"I feel like, you know, he's (Will Smith) never been a better player than me, regardless from whatever stage he was at. Or Cam."