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We knew that the New Orleans Saints would only have five picks in the 2020 NFL Draft, even once compensatory selections were awarded. That’s because the Saints have been too aggressive in spending on the open market to even qualify. But now that those extra picks have been announced, we know exactly when and where the Saints will make their pick in each round of April’s draft (at least until an inevitable trade up or two). Here’s where things stand on the cusp of free agency:
- Round 1, No. 24
- Round 3, No. 88
- Round 4, No. 130
- Round 5, No. 169
- Round 6, No. 203
The Saints lack their second- and seventh-round picks after trades that netted players like Erik McCoy, C.J. Gardner-Johnson, and Eli Apple, but fans shouldn’t sweat it. The team certainly won’t be worried, with Saints coach Sean Payton joking that they could easily turn five picks into six selections with a trade. That would fly in the face of precedent — the Saints have traded up in every draft Payton has managed, and only traded down twice, in his first few years on the job — but it would be a welcome change of pace given the state of the team.
The Saints have many veteran players headed for free agency, and they won’t be able to re-sign every one of them. They need to begin replenishing the roster with cheap, younger talent before it’s too late. The 2020 free agent class especially looks like a pivot-point in which the Saints might set themselves up to recoup some draft capital through compensatory picks, with at least eight potential qualifiers headed for free agency.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Owning just five of the 256 selections in this year’s draft may not be ideal, but it’s the same position the Saints found themselves in last year, and they managed to land rookie starters like McCoy and Gardner-Johnson, as well as undrafted finds like All-Pro returns ace Deonte Harris and standout defensive linemen Shy Tuttle and Carl Granderson. So long as Jeff Ireland is running the scouting department and Payton is calling the shots on top of draft day, New Orleans football appears to be in good hands.
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