The NFL Trade Deadline will be here before we know it. It lands on Tuesday, November 1, 2022, with a 4:00 PM Eastern Time deadline for NFL teams that want to finalize any trades. For some teams, they could be one trade away from making a serious push straight to the NFL Playoffs. For others, it's best to make some difficult decisions now to trade away star and top players to rebuild for a brighter future.
Such is the case with the New Orleans Saints as at this point in time, they're 2-5 and all the way at the bottom of the NFC South. The division has been weird so far this season and for all we know, things could look very different a month for now but considering the NFL Trade Deadline is quickly approaching, it makes sense for the Saints to be sellers instead of buyers.
With issues at quarterback, offensive line, and even on defense, the Saints need help badly. Unfortunately, it looks like they're going to have to rebuild their team the old-school way by having a few key NFL Draft classes to help the cause. Due to this, it makes a lot of sense for the Saints to trade wide receiver Jarvis Landry now and get more draft capital to work with in the future.
The Saints would benefit tremendously by trading Jarvis Landry now
This past offseason, all eyes were on the Saints' acquisitions with Landry leading the way bringing excitement, energy, and hope to an offense that was in dire need of playmakers. It's no secret that Landry, when healthy, can be a huge offensive threat but unfortunately, he's been anything but that so far this season with the Saints.
In the four games he's played with the franchise, Landry has only totaled 15 receptions, 168 receiving yards, and has yet to score a single touchdown. It's been disappointing, to say the least, and even though he's dealing with an unfortunate ankle injury, his future doesn't look bright in New Orleans at this rate.
Regardless, Landry still could bring value to another team once he's fully healed up, especially with all the veteran experience he brings to the table. When healthy, Landry has proven to be more than capable of being a No. 1 wide receiver that can make big plays at will and be a natural-born playmaker. The issue is that since the Saints have so many areas of opportunity to address, having Landry around after this season is over doesn't make much sense in the grand scheme of things.
Landry is set to be a free agent this upcoming offseason anyway so it makes more sense to trade him now for perhaps a mid to late-round draft pick. A trade would build up some draft capital to lay down the groundwork for a successful rebuild over the next few years. The best teams build through the draft as it's a proven way towards achieving success in the future but patience is needed. We're easily looking at a 2-3 year window at the least before the Saints can probably get back to being a contender again.
Winning fixes everything but even then, it just doesn't make sense to keep Landry now in what appears to be an abysmal season for the Saints. Anything can change of course but it's all about preparing to address those weaknesses of the Saints in the future so they can eventually get back to their winning ways.
Let's see what general manager Mickey Loomis does before the NFL Trade Deadline hits as all eyes will be on the movies that can be done now for better seasons ahead. As of now, it makes more sense to trade Landry, get a mid or late-round draft pick for him, and take care of that before he potentially walks next offseason as a free agent for nothing in return.