With fewer picks, New Orleans Saints looking to make most out of the draft
 

New Orleans Saints General Manager Mickey Loomis did not want to talk last week about either the bounty scandal overshadowing the team or the ongoing negotiations with quarterback Drew Brees, but he did offer some insight into the team's upcoming draft.

"Yeah, listen, I'm not going to discuss Drew," he said from the start of an interview in his temporary office as the Saints' Metairie facility undergoes a huge facelift. "The work on his contract -- it has been amicable. This isn't a negotiation in the media. I'm not going to say anything about it."

If Brees chooses to discuss the matter, that's his right, but Loomis said he would steer clear of delving publicly into the high-profile issue.

"Yeah, again, I'm not going to comment on any of that -- about the progress or how I feel about it or how he feels about it," he said. "That's up to him to make those comments."

Full article.
With fewer picks, New Orleans Saints looking to make most out of the draft - New Orleans Saints Football NFL News - NOLA.com

Mickey Loomis not concerned by Saints' dearth of draft picks

Despite having just five picks in the 2012 NFL Draft and no selections until the end of the third round, New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis said he was confident his team would be able to bring in a talented class of rookies.

The Saints gave up this year's first-round pick to move up to select running back Mark Ingram in 2011. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell stripped them of their second-round pick this year for organizational involvement in a "bounty" program, in which players were rewarded with cash for injuring opponents.

Loomis said the Saints would not look to trade into the first two rounds, but the team might consider trading down to acquire more picks.

"We've traded picks away before," Loomis told The Times-Picayune. "I don't recall off the top of my head a year where we didn't have a first- or second-round pick, but look, that has happened before to teams. And we still have five picks -- third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh. So that's five players we can bring in here to help contribute to our team. So we've got to do a great job with those five picks and sign some college free agents after the draft that can help us.

"And look, I think we get more focused, not less, when you're short at the top of the draft. Because we have to do a good job, and we will do a good job with those mid-round and late-round picks because we have done that in the past."

Full article.
NFL.com news: Mickey Loomis not concerned by Saints' dearth of draft picks

Thanks papz, that was a good read.

I for one am glad to hear that they have no plans to try and move up in the draft, because they do need all of their picks and the potential benefit of moving up is of a high risk/high reward type, which the Saints can't really afford this year.

They don't need to trade any further down either, just draft with your 5 picks don't jerk around.

"The work on his contract -- it has been amicable. This isn't a negotiation in the media. I'm not going to say anything about it."

Very Cool, just get it done.

But don't they have 6 picks in the coming draft?

A 3rd, a 4th, a 5th, two 6th (one from WAS and one from MIA), and a 7th.

The article stated that they have 5 picks in the coming draft, so where did they lose another pick?

We just swapped the 27th pick in round 6 to the 8th pick, so just one pick in the 6th round.

I was thinking we had 2 picks in the 6th, but it looks like I was wrong...

Yeah, that is the other 6th round pick, but according to at least this site the Saints would have a another 6th round pick, which I guess they've received from Washington through some transaction.

New Orleans Saints: 2012 NFL Draft


And here is another one stating the Saints have two 6th round picks:

http://www.thesaintsnation.com/2012-...nts-picks.html


Further digging around reveals that there were conditions on the WAS 6th rounder, so I'm not sure if the Saints received it or not:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=5306133