The Howard Dealeo.
 

I think we'll be waiting awhile to hear about a deal for Howard. If we're going to use him to change our draft position, we should definitely wait until the draft. This will allow us to make his trade conditional on who is available to us when we make the trade; this is, IMHO, a much better way to go than to trade him for a draft pick and then not have a guy we want available.

Of course, if we are going to trade Howard for a Safety, as has been suggested, or a Linebacker, then it may happen sooner.

If it is for a Safety, I'd like to see us get a conditional pick in the following year (a second or third - or a first if the trade is not for Darius, who I think is a pretty comparable player) based on Howard's games played or sack total; the reason I favor this is that DEs are more valuable than Safeties in general. Also, I feel like we could take advantage of the other team's fear regarding Howard's durability, which I think is actually better than it has appeared over the last two years.

The Howard Dealeo.
 

The Saints shouldn\'t rush the deal. As training camp starts and players get injured (which usually happen) Howard\'s trade value will go up as teams get desperate.

The Howard Dealeo.
 

That is also risky, as Howard may get injured too. I\'d prefer to see us make a trade on draft day or near then, unless we can get a Safety or LB (as outlined above).

If we\'re trading Howard, perhaps it is time to ask what our depth is like should something happen to Grant or Smith. Who do we have? Whitehead - I like him, but he\'s aging. Bryant may be stolen by Miami. That leaves who? Off the top of my head, no one else of note. If we\'re going to trade Howard, which given his cap number, seems required, we need to keep Bryant.