Grading Bleacher Report’s preseason trade ideas for the New Orleans Saints

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We’re still a ways off from the uptick of trades and roster moves that follow NFL preseason games, but Bleacher Report’s Alex Ballentine shared a list of trade proposals for every team to consider while they’re still in training camp — including the New Orleans Saints. The Saints were a popular choice of trade partner in this speculation with three different player-pick swaps suggested. Let’s grade each of them:

Saints trade for Cowboys DE Dorance Armstrong

Oct 30, 2022; Arlington, Texas, USA; Dallas Cowboys defensive end Dorance Armstrong (92) in action during the game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Chicago Bears at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Cowboys Receive: 2024 fourth-round pick (via Jaguars)

Saints Receive: Edge Dorance Armstrong

Dorance Armstrong is coming off a career year and has been a valuable player for the defense, but he’s become a luxury.

The Cowboys already have a lot of depth on the edge. Micah Parsons continues to become more of a full-time edge player, giving them a crew that includes Parsons, DeMarcus Lawrence, Dante Fowler Jr., Sam Williams and Viliami Fehoko Jr.

Williams was a second-round pick last season and Fehoko was a fourth-rounder this year. If the Cowboys want to develop those two, they have to see on-field action.

Trading away Armstrong would not only vacate those snaps but would also free up $5.8 million in cap space. That’s a big deal for a team that has contract extensions for CeeDee Lamb, Trevon Diggs and Dak Prescott on the horizon.

The Saints might be a team to call. Cameron Jordan is 34 years old and they don’t have proven depth behind Carl Granderson.

This would be a slam-dunk trade for New Orleans if they had a fourth-round pick in 2024 — but Bleacher Report has it backwards. The Saints traded that pick to Jacksonville along with a 2023 seventh rounder so they could acquire the No. 127 pick and select quarterback Jake Haener. So unless the Cowboys were willing to accept a fifth-round pick or lower, this deal doesn’t happen.

Still, Armstrong would fill a need in New Orleans. The Saints are hoping Payton Turner or Isaiah Foskey can elbow their way into the starting lineup opposite Jordan, though Granderson and Tanoh Kpassagnon are a couple of solid veterans in the rotation. Armstrong’s 43 pressures last season were more than anyone in New Orleans, and his 8.5 sacks would have tied Jordan for the team lead.

Grade: F, because the Saints don’t have this pick to trade (but Armstrong is still worth looking into)

Jets trade for Saints OL James Hurst

AP Photo/Adam Hunger

Jets Receive: OT James Hurst

Saints Receive: 2024 fourth-round pick

A failure to protect Aaron Rodgers is one of the major things that could derail the Jets hype train in 2023. Rodgers has mostly played in front of good-to-great offensive lines with the Packers and he needs time in the pocket.

Having a functional, healthy left tackle is an important aspect of protecting their new quarterback.

Right now, it’s not clear the Jets have that. The primary options are a 37-year-old Duane Brown, who is on the PUP list to start camp, and Mekhi Becton. The 2020 first-round pick has played just one game over the past two seasons due to knee injuries.

James Hurst is not a big name, but the 31-year-old started 16 games for the Saints last season. He has experience playing both left tackle and guard. That flexibility could come in handy as the Jets get to work finding their five best linemen in camp.

The Saints could be motivated to trade Hurst from a financial perspective. If they are confident Trevor Penning is ready to take over the tackle spot, they might value saving $5.5 million by trading Hurst over keeping him.

The Jets have plenty of cap space to take on Hurst’s contract and it’s a good investment to protect their biggest investment of the offseason.

It isn’t a terrible idea to look at a team running deep at a position and suggesting they look to spend resources more efficiently elsewhere, but trading Hurst would run against everything the Saints have experienced recently. There’s a real scenario where he starts at left tackle or left guard in Week 1 depending on Trevor Penning’s progress and Andrus Peat’s availability. And even if he isn’t starting, Hurst is worth retaining as an ideal sixth man who can line up at four of the five spots along the line.

That outweighs the benefits of having another $5.5 million or a mid-round pick in next year’s draft. The Saints’ offensive line has taken so many hits lately (Peat is injured, his backup Trai Turner is done for the year with an injury, and Turner only signed in the first place because Billy Price’s contract was voided by an offseason injury) that they should lean on their depth, not thin it out.

Grade: D

Vikings trade for Saints WR Tre'Quan Smith

Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports

Saints Receive: 2024 fifth-round pick (via Eagles)

Vikings Receive: WR Tre’Quan Smith

Tre’Quan Smith has been a serviceable role player for the Saints in different capacities over the last five seasons, but he only has one year left on his current contract.

The Saints added Bryan Edwards in free agency and drafted A.T. Perry, who was the seventh-ranked receiver on Bleacher Report’s big board with a third-round grade. They also brought in James Washington, whose best statistical season (44 catches, 735 yards and three touchdowns) is better than any year Smith has had.

Chris Olave, Michael Thomas and Rashid Shaheed are the top three receivers, so the Saints could easily have six on the active roster without Smith.

With the Saints’ penchant for pushing money into the future, it also helps that they would save $2.7 million by dealing Smith.

The Vikings don’t have the same kind of depth behind their top three options. Assuming After Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison and K.J. Osborn, they have names like Jalen Reagor waiting in the wings.

Smith’s consistency and experience would at least give them a reliable fourth option.

Look, the Saints should do what must be done to keep the coaches from being tempted to roster Smith over a more-talented veteran like Bryan Edwards or James Washington, or a younger receiver with higher potential like A.T. Perry or Shaquan Davis. They know who he is at this point in his career — a good blocker with erratic hands and little separation ability — but his longevity has been confused for reliability.

If the Saints can offload Smith and not just open opportunities for other players on their roster, but get something back for him, they shouldn’t let another team rethink the offer. It’s worth noting the pick going to New Orleans in this proposal is conditional. If Jalen Reagor has 40 receptions, 500 receiving yards, or 5 touchdown catches in 2023, it becomes a fourth-round pick rather than a fifth rounder.

Grade: A

Which other proposed trades should Saints chime in on?

Bleacher Report’s writeup wasn’t just about the Saints; they suggested trades for all 32 teams. Assuming they’re available, which players should New Orleans make calls about? Here are our picks:

• DT Grover Stewart, Indianapolis Colts. The Saints don’t have a third-round pick in 2024 to barter for him, which is the proposed price, but Stewart is exactly the kind of underrated veteran they could use to complete the rebuild of their defensive tackles rotation. Stewart (6-foot-4, 314 pounds) logged nearly as many snaps last year (778) as Nathan Shepherd and Khalen Saunders combined (838).
• LB Christian Kirksey, Houston Texans. It’s a mix of career special teamers and unproven first- and second-year pros behind Demario Davis and Pete Werner, but Kirksey is exactly the kind of veteran the Saints could use to settle their linebacker corps. Kirksey (6-foot-2, 236 pounds) has started 94 of his 114 career games in the NFL, and the proposed 2024 fifth-round pick swapped for him is a fair price.
• WR Hunter Renfrow, Las Vegas Raiders. There’s been smoke linking the Saints to Renfrow before they even signed Derek Carr, and they could use another proven veteran in the receiving corps despite the potential in Rashid Shaheed. We’ve talked about Renfrow’s possible fit in the offense before, and trading a couple of mid-round picks in 2024 and 2025 (as was proposed here) would be worth it to add more firepower to an offense that needs it.