Saints GM Mickey Loomis on Michael Thomas, AD, and more

New Orleans Saints General Manager Mickey Loomis appeared recently on Mad Dog Sports Radio on XM Radio. Loomis was asked questions about the recently extended Cam Jordan, the current status of contract negotiations with Michael Thomas, and about the organization of which he previously oversaw, the New Orleans Pelicans.

On Michael Thomas:

Adam Schein: “Anything brewing, anything cooking with Michael Thomas in terms of conversations, negotiations on a new deal?”

Mickey Loomis: “Yeah, listen, we’ve had some conversations, and I like keeping that close to the vest until there’s something to report. Look, we love what Mike’s done for us. He’s a fantastic player, one of the best at his position in the league, and hopefully we can keep him as a Saint for a longtime as well.”

Schein: “Now I know you want to keep it close to the vest, but is it just fair to say you had some conversations, are they ongoing conversations? Is this a re-occurring conversation?”

Loomis: “Yeah I think again, we’ll just keep that to ourselves Adam, but, it’s fair to say we’ve had some conversations.”

On Anthony Davis and Zion Williamson:

Adam Schein: “What can you tell us about the latest with Anthony Davis? What’s the latest in terms of the trade conversations, is there a time-frame for a resolution on Anthony Davis?”

Mickey Loomis: “Yeah, look Adam I think you need to call David and ask him that. That’s his bailiwick now, and so I’m going to leave that to him.”

Schein: “And he has the ability to do whatever’s best for the organization?”

Loomis: “Absolutely. That’s the model we believe. We believe in hiring an executive vice president general manager, and empowering them to make those decisions.”

Schein: “Now I know we haven’t had the draft yet, but can you hit home for me and the listeners, getting the number one pick, winning the lottery, I think Zion is going to be unbelievable. Can you describe what that meant winning the lottery for the organization and for the city?”

Loomis: “I think more than anything [pauses] this last season was a downer, and all the activity around Anthony was a downer for our fans. And so, to win the lottery and have a player available as exciting as Zion just re-energized our city relative to basketball. David Griffin hire, winning the lottery, all those things have just built excitement and re-kindled the fire around the Pelicans, and it’s tangible. I’m sure you’ve seen a few of the YouTube videos and things like that, that have happened around our city and so it’s been exciting. Look, I asked David if he thought Zion could play Tight End or D-End for us so maybe we can get a little double duty out of him, he’s that explosive of an athlete. I was saying to [Griffin] it felt very similar to when we drafted Reggie Bush in 2006. There was an excitement about that, that energized our city at a time that we needed it after Katrina, and this feels a lot like that.”

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