METAIRIE (KATC) – With just one draft pick in the top 150, the Saints aren’t natively inline to make a splash in this week’s draft. Not just yet.
New Orleans has five picks: second round (62) a fifth round pick (168) two in the sixth (177 & 202) and two in the seventh (231 & 244.) Those are a lot of places where you find impact players.
Mickey Loomis and Sean Payton have had success late in the draft, Marques Colston (7th, 252) and Carl Nicks (5th, 164) are not only two players who made impacts as rookies, but also won rings with the Saints. But instant value that low in the draft is just not typical.
To move up in the draft New Orleans would likely have to dip into 2020’s stash. The Saints own six of their seven picks next season.
“Every year I say that we are open to trading back and trading forward and every year we trade forward, right?” Said general manager Mickey Loomis Monday. “Obviously that’s been our history and comes from finding a player that we really like and we target that we believe can help our team, a player that we have a vision for and going and getting them…. You can trade picks and you can trade players too. I mean there’s a few avenues to make movement, but again we’re going to have to see somebody that we’ve got a target on and that we feel like we have to move in order to even contemplate that. But look, the honest truth is we’ve got less ammunition, less things to trade this year than we’ve had in the past, so that makes it a lot more difficult.”
The Saints seem keen on picking a receiver. By one count the Saints have brought in 10 receivers ahead of the draft,offensive and defensive line help also seem to be two ares the Saints are interested in beefing up.
But what if New Orleans wants to go in a different direction. USA today blogger John Sigler says the Saints may be better off to deal their picks.
New Orleans could use this theory on more than defensive linemen. The Eagles seem in position to move speedster Nelson Agholor.
But to be fair, the draft is one of the hardest things to predict, even the week of. The Saints could be big players come Thursday, or could quietly sit by and make their five picks as they sit now.
Either way, you can watch all three days of the draft on KATC, beginning Thursday at 7.
