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The New Orleans Saints have executed five draft-day trades involving first round picks since Mickey Loomis became general manager in 2002.

All five times, the Saints traded to move up, not down.

That's worth keeping in mind as the 2016 NFL Draft begins on Thursday. The Saints have the No. 12 overall pick in the first round. If they decide to move down a few spots in order to accumulate more picks later in the draft, it will be a significant break from recent history.



The Saints haven't traded down to acquire more picks during the draft since April 28, 2007, when they made a relatively minor deal with the Detroit Lions to move from No. 58 to No. 66 in exchange for a fifth round pick.

Since then, the Saints have made 12 draft-day trades. They moved up six times; dealt future year picks to acquire a current-year selection five times; and traded a player for a pick once. They never moved down, something they did a half-dozen times during Loomis' first five years on the job.

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Rugby Saint II

Payton openly modeled this franchise after the New England Patriots with permission from Billicheck to come to their facility and see how it's done the Patriots way. We've held multiple joint practices with them and they have been our favorite trade partner under Payton. We don't draft like they do though. We move up to draft while they move back and acquire additional picks. We hold onto our players too long while they release them when it's cost efficient. Also, we overpay in free agency. They don't normally.

Payton is a gambler. And he takes gambles on draft day. It's in his genetic make up. He hit on some late draft gambles when he first came to New Orleans and he still wants to believe he can do it every single time.

Fortunately, Jeff Ireland seems to have a calming effect on draft day. He also apparently has a good eye for defensive talent. Which helped make last years defensive upgrade very promising. Let's see what he does this year with a whole off season to evaluate talent under his belt with the organization and the input from our new scouts.

WillSaints81

2007 or 1997?

QBREES9