Any New Orleans Saints holding their breath for a blockbuster move ahead of Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline may need to reconsider their stance. It’s possible the Saints could surprise us and add a big name or ship someone out, but it’s not looking like they’ll be part of many high-stakes negotiations as the trade deadline approaches. NFL rules dictate that trade talks may not continue beyond 3 p.m. CT on Tuesday, Oct. 31.
So why won’t New Orleans be in the mix? For one thing, the Saints don’t have many contracts they could offload for salary cap relief, nor pending free agents other teams would want to prioritize. For another, these are the only 2024 draft picks New Orleans can barter with right now (compensatory draft picks can be traded, but not until they’ve been officially awarded in March):
- Round 1
- Round 2 (via Denver Broncos)
- Round 5
- Round 6
- Round 6 (via Philadelphia Eagles)
- Round 7 (via Denver Broncos)
Those top two selections should be off-limits, so that leaves the Saints with only a couple of late-round picks to put on the table. And that’s unlikely to land a difference-maker. Maybe the Saints could improve depth along the offensive line or add another receiver or tight end, but those are all marginal improvements.
One other point: while it may be fun to daydream about a trade for a top-shelf pass rusher like Danielle Hunter or Chase Young, those players would need expensive contract extensions. And the Saints just guaranteed a combined $61.8 million in extensions with Cameron Jordan and Carl Granderson this summer, so it’s very unlikely they would triple down with another veteran pass rusher like this. Maybe a situational player would make sense, but then they’d be taking snaps away from Isaiah Foskey and stymieing his development.
Obviously you’d never say never, but in this case it doesn’t look like the Saints are going to be big players at the trade deadline on Tuesday. We’ll check in on the rumor mill and see whether the Saints are being linked to anyone in the hours leading up to that deadline.
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