The Trade
 

Hey, at least we're not Cardinals fans.
The draft is at #19 right now and Bailey is still on the board. Overhyped? The kid is quick and has amazing hops but missed tackles.
Regardless, I won't grade today's portion of the draft until it's all over.

The Trade
 

I just found this on neworleanssaints.com.

The Saints took the opportunity to move up in the first round as General Manager Mickey Loomis (right) engineered a trade that sent both first-round selections (#17, 18) and their second-round selection (#54) to Arizona for the Cardinals\' first round (#6), second round (#37) and third round (#102) selections. The Saints used the #6 pick to select Georgia DT Johnathan Sullivan. Rated highly on the Saints draft board, Sullivan became the second Bulldog taken in the first round by the Saints in the last two seasons behind Sullivan\'s former Georgia teammate DE Charles Grant in 2002.

\"We\'ve been talking to a couple of teams over the last couple of days,\" said Saints\' General Manager Mickey Loomis. \"Making the switch of second rounders was the key to the deal.\"

\"There is a lot of value in that second-rounder,\" said Saints\' Director of Player Personnel Rick Mueller. \"There are some great players in the first 10 picks of the second round, like we got with Darren Howard (#33rd overall) in 2000.\"

\"Mickey and Rick did a great job on the deal,\" Head Coach Jim Haslett said. \"We got great value in the type of player we were able to select.\"

According to Mueller, Sullivan was rated high on the Saints draft board. \"He is an outstanding prospect with good size and speed and we had him ranked right behind Dewayne Robertson (taken by the Jets at #4 overall).\"

\"He is a guy that we studied for awhile,\" said Haslett. \"He has a mean streak and has great speed.\"

\"I knew that the Saints had interest in me,\" said Sullivan in a conference call with the media. \"I thought I might get taken between seventh and 12th.\" He also said that New England and Seattle had shown interest in him in recent weeks.

Sullivan, who was watching the draft with 30-40 family and friends in Griffin, Ga., said that he came out early in the draft because he had nothing left to prove at Georgia.

For the second straight year the Saints took a Bulldogs player in the first round as DE Charles Grant went with the 25th overall selection. \"Johnathan has a similar makeup to Charles,\" Mueller said. \"He is a poweful, athletic player.\"

Sullivan said that Grant told him a few days ago to \"stay focused and be ready to play in the league.\"

Haslett also talked with Grant extensively about Sullivan in the time leading up to the draft. \"He reminds me so much of Charles,\" Haslett said. \"They were both juniors coming into the draft. He has great speed but he has to be more consistent on every play.\"

Loomis indicated that the Saints tried to move up to the fourth selection, held by Chicago, before the Bears made Friday\'s deal with the Jets.

Another key to the deal was the fourth rounder the Saints got back from the Cardinals. \"Now, we\'re getting a player like Keyuo Craver (cornerback taken in the fourth round in 2002),\" Mueller said.

The Saints still hold six selections in the draft with one each in the first four rounds and one each in the fifth and seventh rounds.

It was the second time in club history that a club has taken the sixth overall selection in the draft. In 1986, the Saints selected T Jim Dombrowski from Virginia after swapping picks with Indianapolis, who got the Saints\' selection at #4.




AND third round. This is a better trade than I thought.

[Edited on 26/4/2003 by iceshack149]