Trading back goes against everything in Mickey Loomis' nature, but it's exactly what John Kosko of Pro Football Focus is advocating for him to do in the NFL Draft. The New Orleans Saints walk into the draft with their highest first round selection since 2008, and Kosko suggests they use it as trade capital. Kosko doesn't want the Saints to trade up, as they typically like to do, however.
Kosko says that the team has multiple directions it could take. "While the pick could be used to secure a foundational piece, trading down may offer the most value," he states. "Accumulating additional draft capital would allow the Saints to address several roster holes and accelerate their rebuild without sacrificing long-term flexibility."
A trade down would make sense, because the Saints are currently in a rebuild, whether they'll admit that or not. The more draft picks they have, the faster they can return to greatness. More young, talented players have never hurt any team in this league. However, if history has anything to say about it, then the chances of the Saints trading back are slim to none.
The Saints very rarely trade down during the NFL draft
Despite the current value in a trade down, it's still something that's unlikely to happen. It's been a second since general manager Mickey Loomis and the Saints have ever done such a thing, with "Give It To Me" by Timbaland featuring Nelly Furtado and Justin Timberlake topping the charts the last time they decided to trade back. That specific move was in the second round as well, rather than the first. Loomis has never traded back in the first round in his near quarter century as general manager.
It's not a Mickey Loomis thing; it's a New Orleans thing. The Saints' distaste of trading back didn't show up when their current general manager did. Never trading down was a habit that they had well before he got there. In fact, the last time the Saints traded back during the first round was in 1997 when Loomis was still the Vice President of the Seattle Seahawks.
With that pick, the Saints took interior offensive lineman Chris Naeole. He was a solid pickup for the Saints, being one of their starting five on the line throughout his time with the team. If New Orleans does trade back this year, they can only hope that whoever it is starts consistently for as long as Naeole did.