SmashMouth

When the New Orleans Saints move in the draft, they typically go one direction: up.
They did it twice this year so they could select interior offensive lineman Erik McCoy in the second round and safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson in the fourth.
Last year, they did it for first-round defensive end Marcus Davenport. The year before that, they moved up in the third round for two-time Pro Bowl running back Alvin Kamara.
The list of players the Saints have moved up for with Sean Payton as coach and Mickey Loomis as general manager also includes a starter in safety Vonn Bell (a second-round selection) and a regular rotation player on the defensive line in David Onyemata (fourth). Punter Thomas Morstead, selected in 2009, also came after the Saints made a move up in the fifth round.
Other notable move-ups in the draft came for first-rounders in wide receiver Brandin Cooks in 2014, running back Mark Ingram in 2011 and defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis in 2008.
Since the Saints hired Payton in 2006, the Saints have made 20 trades during the draft and moved up 17 times. Not all of them have panned out. In 2007, the Saints moved up 16 spots in the fourth round to select running back Antonio Pittman from Ohio State, and he failed to make the roster out of training camp.
Of the 17 players selected after a move up in the draft, the Saints selected four in the first round, two in the second round, two more in the third, five in the fourth, three in the fifth and one in the seventh.



In completing deals for those 17 players, the Saints sent away five picks in the first round, four in the second, three in the third, seven in the fourth, eight in the fifth, four in the sixth and three in the seventh. That's total of 34 draft selections.
Certainly, when the Saints make a move in the draft, it's done with a specific player in mind.
Scroll down to see more about those 17 players and what each pick cost the Saints.


read more here on NOLA

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