The New Orleans Saints pulled off the first big trade of the 2022 NFL Draft weeks ahead of when teams will be selecting players. They added two first-round picks from the Philadelphia Eagles, snagging No. 16 and 19, along with a sixth-round pick, in exchange for No. 18, a third and seventh-round pick in this year’s draft, a 2023 first-round pick and a 2024 second-round pick. Could another big trade, this time with the New York Giants, be on the horizon?
Dipping into future draft capital like that is always a risky proposition because no one knows what the landscape of the league will be that far ahead. But, the Saints wanted to be aggressive, paying to get prospects in the door a year early.
There has been a lot of speculation about what the motivation for the Saints was with those moves. It is impossible to guess who will be available with those picks when New Orleans comes on the clock, so many people believe there are more moves ahead.
Could they look to jump even further up in the draft, maybe into the top-10 to give themselves a chance at selecting one of the top players on their draft board? Conventional wisdom would be that such a move is made with an eye on a quarterback.
That is certainly a long-term position of need in New Orleans, as they brought back Jameis Winston for this season and signed veteran Andy Dalton as well. With two first-round picks now at their disposal, they could look to move up.
One team that could be a match when it comes to making a trade is the New York Giants. New York should be looking to add as much draft capital as possible in Joe Schoen’s first offseason on the job.
Their roster needs upgrades at numerous positions, so they should be open to moving back and adding more picks. Over at Bleacher Report, they made a trade between the Giants and Saints. New Orleans would acquire the No. 7 overall pick in the draft, sending No. 16 and 19 to New York.
Getting a chance at landing one of the top players in this year’s draft class, which is long on depth but short on star players, would make sense for the Saints. They need some blue-chip prospects to build their roster up.
The Giants could certainly use some blue-chip prospects as well, but they should be able to land one with the No. 5 overall pick. Trading back to add more picks, and hopefully, more impact players makes a lot of sense.
