Saints projected a fifth-round pick for Rankins signing

The New Orleans Saints had an uphill battle to climb this offseason being over $100 million above the league’s salary cap. However, Mickey Loomis and Sean Payton pulled it off and still managed to tag Marcus Williams and re-sign Jameis Winston.

One of those casualties though that they would have liked to keep but just couldn’t was star defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins.

Unfortunately, the year he should have gotten paid by New Orleans was the same year the team’s cap space issue handicapped them so badly they lost multiple key veterans, Rankins included.

The Saints obviously couldn’t afford to re-sign him, and he eventually found his way to signing a two-year, $17 million deal with the New York Jets

With the news that former star DT Sheldon Rankins will be joining the Jets, the Saints might be in for a fifth-round pick next year.

Because of that, the Saints are going to make another big compensatory pick in next year’s NFL Draft. This year, they got three extra compensatory picks for losing Teddy Bridgewater, Vonn Bell, A.J. Klein, and front office personnel.

Sheldon Rankins will highlight the players lost this year for the Saints, but they will continue to add draft picks going forward. Rankins is projected with his contract to bring in an extra fifth-round pick next offseason in the draft.

That is a good thing to hear if you are a Saints’ fan because the Saints do so well when they draft. Sean Payton should be elated every time he gets a draft pick given his recent history with picking studs.

They could even turn around and trade next year’s fifth later on.

They would still get it back in a compensatory pick next year. Either way, it was a pain to lose out on Sheldon Rankins, but the extra pick helps the blow. I am already looking forward to next season with the black and gold.