Saints trade 5th for CB
 

The Jaguars have traded cornerback Jason Craft to the team that offered him a contract two years ago. In return, the New Orleans Saints have given the Jaguars a fifth-round pick in this month's NFL draft.

http://www.jaguars.com/Story/3540.asp

Any thoughts as to how this will affect the draft?

Saints trade 5th for CB
 

I don\'t see where this will affect the draft at all. But, this may be a reaction to the Craver situation.

Saints trade 5th for CB
 

Jason Craft is listed at 5\' 10, 176 lbs., averages about 33 tackles per season, and 1.4 INT\'s per year. He only played in 7 games last season (6 as a starter) due to a knee injury and had 2 INT\'s. He had two really solid games for the Jags last season before the injury(8 tackles, INT, PD against Houston; 1 tackle, INT, 2 PD against MiamiSince Jacksonville beefed up the position with 3 signings at corner, it made him expendable. It will be interesting to see if Craft is fully recovered from the injury and how he\'ll perform on the field. He\'s 28 years old and has never had more than 3 INT\'s in a season which was also his best (2002: 58 tackles: 51 solo, 7 ast); 3 INT\'s, 11 PD; 2 FF). The big IF is if he can come back and have a similar season to 2002. He definitely adds depth, but will this acquisition sway the Saints from drafting a corner at all? I hardly think this will keep the Saints from drafting a corner, though it may not be as high up as we\'d like. It\'s very possible now that they will look at MLB and WR before a corner is drafted.

[Edited on 8/4/2004 by D_it_up2]

Saints trade 5th for CB
 

WELL this just re-enforces the point I was trying to make about the saints taking players that are MAYBE players

Saints trade 5th for CB
 

This guy was a starter, lost his job to injury, and we got him fairly cheap. He\'s strickly solid depth.
Look for an impact CB on draft day.
He can hold down the fort till a 1st or 2nd round CB develops.
He\'s probably as good as anyone on our roster but Thomas.
And quite frankly, Thomas sucked until his late 20\'s.
I seem to remember us being blasted for paying money for Seattle rejects...
Give the kid a chance before we label him a MAYBE player.
The 5th rounder we gave up is much more of a MAYBE than this kid.

Saints trade 5th for CB
 

http://www.tm001d6792.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/wtf1.jpg

keep givin up picks for question mark players loomis

Saints trade 5th for CB
 

Lol thats funny I hope he comes in a makes a difference but when it comes to player trades from a team who thought he was good enough to go get 3 more corners that makes me QUESTION WHY do we want this guy.....maybe he will be better than a 5th rounder we will see

Saints trade 5th for CB
 

I don\'t know enough about this guy to say that this is a good or bad pick up for the Saints fifth round pick. However, I was hoping that the Saints would go defense with the 1,2,2,3 picks and go after a fullback with the fifth pick (and according to Danno\'s \"cheet sheet\" it could\'ve been a possibility).

I believe that Gash is a great fullback but at his age they have to get a project fullback to replace him in 2 or 3 years.

Saints trade 5th for CB
 

Yea i forgot that fifth rounders are always impact players with no questionable marks.

Saints trade 5th for CB
 

Remember we still have the compensatory pick ;) . I believe it was a great pick up :D

1. Dunta Robinson Cb, or trade down for Ahmad Carroll
2. Devery Henderson Wr or Teddy Lehman
2. Dontarrious Thomas Ilb, or Joey Thomas

Saints trade 5th for CB
 

This is a solid depth pick. If Thomas or Ambrose go down he could stop the bleeding.
It decreases the DESPERATION factor of reaching for a CB in the draft.
After Hall and Robinson, the next level of CB\'s is about 6-8 deep.
When pick 18 comes around, we can now go CB, LB, WR or DT or whatever.
Other teams don\'t know who we may pick now.
He gives us a little more draft day flexibility. If only a little.

Bottom line: Does his signing make our CB\'s a better overall unit?
I think so. Another team\'s starter for the price of a scrub?
How can anyone slam this signing?

Saints trade 5th for CB
 

I don\'t see how this can be seen as a bad move. Craft isn\'t being brought in as a starter, and his cap number is very low. We need depth at corner and he provides a servicable player in a pinch. We don\'t know if anybody we picked in the 5th round would even make the roster by the beginning of the season.

Saints trade 5th for CB
 

By the way BlackandBlue, that\'s a pretty stupid signature. Did you base that on what a poster has gave you?


.....classic! :)

Saints trade 5th for CB
 

Ehhh, a 5th rounder seems like a bit much. But he is probably better than any corner we could of gotten with that pick, and (if nothing else) we really needed another body because we had no depth at the position.

Saints trade 5th for CB
 

I think his signing ends the Gamble debate.
I think Gamble was just a hair better than the 2nd CB\'s which are about 8 deep. I feel confident that we won\'t reach on Gamble at 18 now.
Gamble at 18 was out of desperation. Now we have a seviceable secondary and can confidently wait till the 2nd round (if Hall and Robinson are gone) and get a higher value pick than Gamble at 18.
Craft is no Charles Woodson, but he\'s no frickin Fakhir Brown either.

Saints trade 5th for CB
 

Well only time will tell...maybe now we can look at trying to get in position to get either hall or robinson if not go LB all the way and don\'t look back

Saints trade 5th for CB
 

5th round pick for a guy we probably won\'t simply cut or put on the practice squad. Sounds like a great trade to me.

This may effect who we get to back up Gash at FB though. Isn\'t conventional wisdom that we can get a decent FB at 5 or 6? It\'ll have to be 6 now won\'t it?

Saints trade 5th for CB
 

I didn\'t think we had a sixth round pick

Saints trade 5th for CB
 

Great pick! It\'s hard to get decent CBs in the 5th round.

Saints trade 5th for CB
 

Let\'s be real, a 5th round pick isn\'t worth much. That being said, this was still a pretty stupid move if you ask me, but not at all surprising. The Saints signing a guy who lost his job as the starter and is now the backup to the backup? NEVER (cough, RUFF, cough).

I hope you guys who like this move are loving Craft in September when Gash\'s old body can\'t handle the beating and Deuce is running for 65 yards a game instead of 125.

Saints trade 5th for CB
 

Our FB\'s only play in like 30% of the plays. Sure, they help Deuce but not enough to say he will only be getting 65yds a game. Gash will be fine. We could always trade something for a 4th rounder this year and draft a FB anyway, it\'s not the end of the world.

Saints trade 5th for CB
 

No it\'s not the end of the world. But it\'s not a smart move either from where I\'m sitting, right now in April. Maybe it will be in September, but I don\'t like it now.

Saints trade 5th for CB
 

Not sure what Gash has to do with bringing in a CB who right now would be our 2nd best CB on the roster, and costing us what a scrub would.
Nobody\'s claiming he\'s the next Charles Woodson, but he\'s already better than Brown and Craver.
The difference between a 5th round FB and a 6th round FB is pretty minimal. If thats the angle your taking.

Saints trade 5th for CB
 

Good point Danno, and well taken. I should be happy about a young experienced guy over a 5th round draft pick. You\'re right. Something about this just feels a lot like Ruff, so I\'m hesitant. I dunno. I\'ll be hopeful I guess. Maybe this guy can be a good nickel option with Thomas and whomever we draft being one and two. Then Ambrose will be a good dime guy. Not bad I guess. I\'ll be happy about it.

Saints trade 5th for CB
 

I have a strong feeling that Craft could definitely start this year. IMO he\'s the 2nd best CB on the roster now, even though he has only started less than half of his games. If the Saints don\'t go corner in the draft, look for him to start over Ambrose, Brown, and Craver. I just hope his knee is completely healthy and hasn\'t lost any speed or much mobility.

Saints trade 5th for CB
 

right on

Saints trade 5th for CB
 

I think this was a a solid pick up... you can still find players in the 5th round but hard to do... Good move. This guy can play, coming off an injury so he\'s been in rehap and in better shape and ready to go. We have over a year to find a FB. We have Gash and maybe can rotate a TE at FB if need be. Gash will give us at least a year or two if need be.

Saints trade 5th for CB
 

I think Ruff was brought in as \"the man\" in the middle though, wasn\'t he? I hated that one too. At least this time Craft isn\'t being heralded as the answer.

Saints trade 5th for CB
 

Thats the rub.
Some may think we signed him as the answer at CB. And if we did, then yes BAD move. But I\'m sure our front office didn\'t sign this guy as the answer, just a solid contributor. We could actually use another one just like him since Carter is gone (for now) and Keyou has decided he doesn\'t want to take his job seriously.

I think every GREAT secondary needs an A player (cough*Woodson*cough) and about 3 B players behind him, then a few C players that may develop into a B or even A player.

Craft is a B player. Thomas is a B-plus player, Ambrose is a B-minus.

Woodson, Hall/Robinson/Gamble will probably become our A CB.

I think if Will Smith slips, I\'d consider taking him and trading Howard for Woodson, straight up. We\'d be awfully young up front, but I think Woodson would help us more than the loss of Howard would hurt us.

[Edited on 9/4/2004 by Danno]

Saints trade 5th for CB
 

I consider it a great move... Craft is a splitting image to Fred Thomas. A corner who came into his own under the Has system. That can\';t be said abotu a lot of players.
And from where I\'m looking, Craft was on his way to maybe his best season last year before he got hurt.
The only drawback I foresee is that like every other free agent it will tke him about 7 games to get acclimated.

what this really tells me is the Saints are eyeing one of the receivers...
And will select the best CB, and LB inthe 2nd round.

Saints trade 5th for CB
 

they just might be looking at a WR. That will give a great chance for helping them negotiate Horn contract or making a trade. However, this will only help in the upcoming years. I look at the possibility of them picking a Wr in the 1st(Lee Evans) is very small considering they can pick up a WR in the 2nd rd(Devery Henderson).