Going into the New York Giants game, NFL insider Ed Werder suggested Chase Young would be an interesting player to watch as a trade target due the New Orleans Saints’ lack of success. He couldn’t have been more incorrect. Meanwhile, the post Werder was engaging with got it perfectly correct.
The original social media user posted that Young has had a dominant run in a 17 game span. The edge rusher missed the first 5 games of last season, so the stats had to be slightly manipulated to give him a full season worth of games. In that time span, Young had 14 sacks, third most in the league.
It’s not the craziest idea someone has ever come up with on the surface, but a little bit of digging will show this is the craziest idea for the Saints specifically. The Saints are a struggling team, which is why Werder brought it up, however, trading Young would be an extremely short sighted move. Also, it simply is not happening.
Trading Chase Young would be the Saints giving up on the season and the Kellen Moore era
Young is a pillar of this defense for years to come. He’s put up great numbers and he’s shown to be a phenomal leader as well. Young is the type of player you build around.
Werder’s advice would make sense for a team about to go into a rebuild. That’s when you ship your best players away to save money and/or acquire picks. The Saints are in the midst of one, and Young is a key part of it.
This isn’t in response to the win versus the Giants either. The Saints didn’t win and reinvigorate themselves in that game. It’s about the overall state of the franchise.
National media tends to have an unhealthy obsession with taking good players and putting them on good teams. This isn’t Joe Thomas spending a decade with the Browns. Young has only been in New Orleans for the three seasons.
On top of that, the Saints are a rebuilding team. If good players are rushed off struggling squads every chance they get, there won’t be a chance for teams to take that step forward.
The Saints would be fools to trade Young, even if they lost every game until the trade deadline. Young is the type of player who you believe will help turn you around, and it still doesn’t feel like the Saints are too far talent-wise from being a quality team. Letting go of Young feels counter productive.
Even if the Saints changed regimes, they wouldn’t be tearing it down again. Young is one of the better pass rushers in the league, so trading him would help the team
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