The New Orleans Saints have never been shy about trading up in the NFL draft. If a player the Saints desire is within grasp, the Saints front office has been known to go after them. The Saints do have draft ammunition to trade up in the first several rounds as well, with four picks in the first three rounds. With several positions of need to still address this off-season, trading up for players could very well be on the Saints minds come draft day.
Saints draft pick trade scenarios
DraftTek draft pick values were used for the purpose of this deep dive into the Saints trade scenarios. This analysis also does not include any draft picks in upcoming years. The draft value of future picks can be negotiated somewhat. If the Saints want to move any higher than the picks below, they would likely have to include future first or second round draft picks. All of the Saints draft picks are valued at 1196. For comparison, the 12th pick of the NFL draft is valued at 1200 points. These are the current moves that the Saints could make on draft day.
Potential first round draft pick trades
The New Orleans Saints currently possess the 28th pick in the first round of this years NFL draft. This pick is naturally very low, especially if the Saints desire a top end wide receiver, quarterback, linebacker, or cornerback. There are considerable talents at quarterback and wide receiver in the first round of this years draft.
The one pick that will keep the Saints interested is the New England Patriots at pick 15. If the Patriots leave a quarterback on the board, the Saints could pounce on the opportunity. The 19th and 20th pick belong to the Washington Football Team and Chicago bears, respectively. These are both teams needing franchise quarterbacks. The Saints could find trade partners between picks 16 and 18. No team within these picks absolutely needs a quarterback. The Saints could move up to pick 16 by trading their first(28), second(60), and fourth(133) round picks to the Arizona Cardinals. Trading up to 17 and 18 would likely only cost the Saints picks 28 and 60. The Las Vegas Raiders at 17 and the Miami Dolphins at 18 are potential suitors if the Saints want to move in front of Chicago and Washington.
Poll
What position should the Saints target in round one of the NFL Draft?
This poll is closed
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15%
Quarterback
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15%
Linebacker
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59%
Cornerback
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9%
Wide Receiver
Trading up in the second round
The 60th pick in the second round could also be packaged should the Saints find a player they want. The Saints could send pick 60 along with their two third-round and one fourth round picks to move all the way up to pick 37 in the second round. This is likely too many picks to move as it would surrender far too many players for a team needing to fill multiple positions.
What could be a likely scenario is the Saints once again jumping ahead of the Chicago Bears and Washington Football Team for a quarterback. If the Saints want a quarterback they can build, second round quarterbacks could fill the future need. Kellen Mond and Kyle Trask are projected to go in the second round this year. Getting in front of the Bears and Washington would likely have the Saints calling Arizona and Miami again. The Saints could move up to picks 49 or 50 by packaging their second round pick at 60 and their first third round pick at 98.
Trading up in the third round
Let’s not forget the Saints success in third rounds. Alvin Kamara, P.J. Williams, Trey Hendrickson, and Terron Armstead were all third round selections. The Saints have two selections in the third round, 98 and 105. The Saints could use both of these picks to move as high at pick 80 in the third round. If the Saints desire to keep their pick at 98, they could send their pick at 105 as well as their fourth round pick at 133 to move as high as 94 near the end of the third round. Having picks 94 and 98 would allow the Saints to have four picks in the top 100 picks.
Going after their targets
The Saints have never been shy about going after guys they see as “theirs.” The Saints traded up to draft Erik McCoy(second round) and Chauncey Gardner-Johnson(fourth round) in the 2019 draft. In 2018 the Saints moved up to take Marcus Davenport in the first round. Vonn Bell was found in the second round of the 2016 draft after the Saints traded up for him. David Onyemata was also traded up for in the fifth round in 2016. The Saints have a history of getting players they want. With the ammunition this year, expect this to happen at least once for the retooling 2021 New Orleans Saints.
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