The New Orleans Saints draft trades should collectively get an A+
The New Orleans Saints made several draft-day trades, all of which should receive an A+ rating from their fanbase regardless of who they picked.
During the 2020 NFL Draft, some may be thinking — why on earth do the New Orleans Saints continue to mortgage the future for a few more current late-round picks? Well, there are two reasons for that.
In this current draft, it’s because they, for the first time in a while, are projected to get compensatory picks in 2021. Looking at a third and a sixth as it stands, the Saints made sure to deal them in the 2020 NFL Draft not to overload next season’s roster with too much young talent.
The Saints moved up to select three of their four players in the 2020 NFL Draft. It started with Zack Baun, a linebacker. They moved up for fourth-round TE Adam Trauman and then back into the draft for seventh-round pick Tommy Stevens.
The first trade cost them a future third-round pick, among other picks in the current draft. The second one cost them the remainder of their 2020 picks, four in total. Then, the third trade to secure the team’s third quarterback cost them a future sixth-round pick.
They only traded away next season’s picks that they plan to get back in some capcity. Projected to be one of the best teams in 2020, it’s unlikely that the Saints picks would be that high in the respective round anyway.
The second thing is that this team needed to trade.
The Saints are too talented to have seven, eight, or nine picks. With five coming into the draft, the Saints ended with four new additions to their team. While they did manage a plethora of undrafted free agents, who knows who will actually crack the 53-man roster.
There’s no reason to wait for your turn and take a player you aren’t thrilled about.
Next. Top 30 players in New Orleans Saints’ history. dark
The Saints are clearly thrilled about Baun, Trautman, and Stevens. Their reasoning for those picks, the need for those players, and the reasons that go beyond just the trades should have fans thrilled about the team they’ll be looking at in 2020.