It sure feels like we’re playing the waiting game until the New Orleans Saints make a trade in the 2023 NFL draft. Their decision-makers are famously impatient and aggressive in the draft, always looking to move up and get the best prospects available. Sometimes that’s worked out (like with Alvin Kamara). Sometimes it hasn’t (like with Marcus Davenport). But it shouldn’t shock anyone if Mickey Loomis starts working the phones sooner rather than later.
One trade proposal comes from Pro Football Focus analyst Brad Spielberger, who has the Saints acquiring the No. 20 pick and a seventh-rounder at No. 237 from the Seattle Seahawks in exchange for Nos. 29, 71, and next year’s fifth-round selection. And their target in this trade is Clemson Tigers defensive end Myles Murphy. Spielberger wrote:
If there’s one thing we can expect the New Orleans Saints to do come draft time, it’s to trade up in the first round for their favorite prospect no matter the cost. The Saints acquired the No. 29 overall pick in their trade of former head coach Sean Payton to the Denver Broncos, and now it’s burning a hole in their pocket. Overall, the Saints enter the draft with eight total draft picks; they haven’t made eight selections in a class in any of the past seven years.
Murphy wasn’t able to participate in athletic testing at the NFL scouting combine or Clemson’s pro day, but he impressed teams at his individual workout on April 4; ESPN’s Jordan Reid reports that Murphy weighed in at 6-foot-4 and 268 pounds, timing the 40-yard dash in a stunning 4.51 seconds (with a 10-yard split of 1.59 seconds). Reid adds that Murphy finished the three-cone drill in 7.22 seconds and the pro shuttle in 4.28 seconds. He also put up 25 reps on the bench press.
The Saints will get an opportunity to vet those numbers when he makes his own formal visit to the team facility. Those are all impressive stats, and they each beat the average of Saints defensive ends since 2018. Over the last five years, the average Saints defensive end has stood 6-foot-4 and 269 pounds while timing the 40-yard dash in 4.78 seconds (with a 1.67-second 10-yard split) and completing the three-cone drill in 7.31 seconds and pro shuttle in 4.45 seconds. Those are high standards to maintain even by NFL standards, and Murphy appears to have passed with flying colors.
But let’s get back to football, and that’s where Murphy really shines. He’s appeared in 35 games for Clemson over the last three years, totaling 36 tackles for loss and 18.5 sacks with 5 pass breakups and 6 forced fumbles. He’s a disruptive, active force up front who knows how to throw his weight around make a play. He’d probably be a good fit in New Orleans.
