SmashMouth

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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