The NFL draft always carries an element of risk, and the New Orleans Saints have burned themselves at times by flying too close to the sun. Trading up and investing too many resources in players who weren’t up to the task has cost them. With the 2023 draft just days away, it’s worth looking back on their draft history under Mickey Loomis (who was promoted to general manager way back in 2002) as a bit of a cautionary tale.
There’s a sliding scale for deciding what separates a good pick from a bad one — or at least different degrees of success. A seventh-round pick is just happy to make the team. A first-round pick should be competing for Pro Bowl consideration. And there’s a wide span of outcomes in-between.
Still, there’s a convincing case to be made for saying every player on this list didn’t meet expectations: