Yikes. The New Orleans Saints pushed all their chips in on Dennis Allen’s vision for the team in 2022, mortgaging their most valuable asset for 2023 along the way: a pick in the first round of next year’s draft that will go not to New Orleans, but to the Philadelphia Eagles.
And the latest projection at Tankathon has that draft pick slotted in at No. 6 overall. With the Saints staggering into a 3-6 record on their season so far, it’s very possible that’s what they’ll end up giving Philly instead of the mid-20’s pick New Orleans estimated upon first making this trade.
But it’s not like the warning signs weren’t there. Dennis Allen won eight games in two years before the Raiders showed him the door. Neither Jameis Winston nor Andy Dalton accomplished enough in the NFL to deserve much confidence that they could lead this team on a deep playoff run. It was a risky endeavor from the jump, and while they could still hypothetically turn it around, it feels like we’re past that point.
So just how vital is the No. 6 pick? Draft picks are like new cars in that they lose value as soon as you take them off the lot, but here are the players picked at this slot in recent years:
- 2022: LT Ikem Ekwonu
- 2021: WR Jaylen Waddle
- 2020: QB Justin Herbert
- 2019: QB Daniel Jones
- 2018: LG Quenton Nelson
- 2017: DB Jamal Adams
Every one of those players is either a high-profile playmaker, an every-down starting lineman, or a potential franchise quarterback. Six of the players drafted No. 6 overall over the last decade have been selected for at least one Pro Bowl. The Saints have played so poorly this year that they could really use the help a rookie drafted here would bring, but instead they’ll be sending that pick to the Super Bowl-favorite Eagles.
But, hey, things could change in a hurry. The Saints could get hot and rattle off a series of wins and take the NFC South. It just doesn’t feel very likely given how little reason for hope they’ve given fans on the year so far. Odds are they will win some games down the stretch and end up shipping a less-valuable pick to Philadelphia. But if things don’t improve, well: now we know what’s at stake.
