Will Johnson drops the hammer in Cardinals’ season-opening win vs. Saints

Have an NFL debut, Arizona Cardinals rookie cornerback Will Johnson.

The rookie showed up time and time again in Arizona’s 20-13 win over the New Orleans Saints.

Pacing the team with three passes defensed on six targets (the other three were completions that totaled just 26 yards), Johnson lived up to the hype that’s surrounded him since coming to town as a second-round pick this April.

And that’s before even getting into his near interception that was negated due to penalty.

But when it comes to plays that actually stood, Johnson’s hard hit on wide receiver Chris Olave takes the cake.

With the Saints floundering in the fourth quarter and facing a second-and-10 from their own 17-yard line, Johnson said “Nope!”

oh my, Will Johnson 💥

📺 CBS pic.twitter.com/RCnzia54H9

— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) September 7, 2025

The schooling of Budda Baker is certainly rubbing off on the rookie.

For Johnson, Week 1’s showing was just about as good as anyone could have envisioned.

“He was locking up on his receiver, whoever that was, and he did a great job in communicating,” Baker told sideline reporter Paul Calvisi postgame. “That was a great game for him, but for all of us, we can all get better. That’s the worst we’re ever going to play, because that’s Week 1. Our No. 1 goal is to get better each and every day. That’s what we’re going to do.”

About Will Johnson’s near-INT

It didn’t take long for the rookie to make a play on Sunday.

Late in the first quarter, the ball hawk nearly came down with the first interception of his career with an end zone snag.

“I saw (Rashid Shaheed) one-on-one. The corner Johnson, he’s a good ballplayer, good ball skills. He got a little deeper than I thought,” Saints QB Spencer Rattler told reporters postgame. “Just a little miscommunication trying to take a shot early. We got lucky on that.”

But as soon as the celebration began, it was over thanks to an illegal contact penalty on cornerback Max Melton.

The almost INT ended up turning into a lead-changing Saints touchdown seven plays later.

Good thing there’s still 16 games to play in 2025 and things to clean up.

“I thought he played pretty good,” head coach Jonathan Gannon told reporters postgame. “One time he wasn’t on the right guy and it happened quick but thought he held his own. One of our keys to victory is no balls over our head and I thought we did that tonight.”

Related

The revenge tour starts now for Cardinals' Will JohnsonSputtering Cardinals offense wakes up vs. Saints behind Marvin Harrison Jr. TDCardinals' Joey Blount, Cody Simon ruled out vs. Saints due to concussionsBubble watch: Notable Cardinals in danger of 53-man roster cutsCalais Campbell says football brings him joy amid family tragedyJacoby Brissett on Cardinals’ offensive firepower: ‘It presents a lot of problems for teams’