Draft News

By Nathan Beighle | Fansided

How should New Orleans Saints feel about their 2017 NFL Draft class after three years? We take a deep dive into it.

The 2016 New Orleans Saints season finished with one of their only losing records of the decade. They went 7-9 in that season and finished third in the NFC South and were left out of the 2016-17 NFL playoffs.

Drew Brees ended up being their only Pro-Bowler. Therefore, the New Orleans Saints had a lot of work to do to gear up for the next season. That year, they also ended up losing G Jahri Evans, CB B.W. Webb, and RB Tim Hightower in the offseason.

They started out the rebuilding process by signing G Larry Warford from Detroit, LB...

By Mike Detillier / Sports Correspondent

As we get closer to the NFL free agency period, one position the New Orleans Saints will have to take a long look at and also via the NFL draft is at linebacker.

Another top wide receiver, a replacement for offensive guard Andrus Peat (if he leaves in the free agency period) and depth at cornerback is needed, but so is talent and depth at linebacker.

DeMario Davis is an All-Pro caliber player and the best defensive free-agent pickup in the Sean Payton era in New Orleans, but everything after that is in question for 2020 for the Saints.

Strongside linebacker A.J. Klein is an unrestricted free agent for 2020. Middle linebacker Kiko Alonso underwent another knee surgery following the season and Alex Anzalone only played in two games in 2019 before he also underwent surgery. He has been plagued with shoulder problems throughout his college and pro career.

Craig Robertson is a solid back-up player and a very good special teams performer.

Stephone Anthony and Manti Te’o are veteran journeymen players in the league.

2019 7th round pick Kaden Elliss was impressive in training camp and in the preseason, but he is still a work in progress.

Full Story - houmatoday.com

By Max Staley | The Duel

With Michael Thomas on the team, it feels weird to consider wide receiver a position of need for the New Orleans Saints. But the fact is, other than Thomas, no Saints' wideout had more than 450 receiving yards in 2019, with Ted Ginn Jr. being the second-leading WR at 421 yards.

Adding a legitimate threat opposite of Thomas could help push this Saints' offense to the next level, but with the sixth-least amount of projected cap space available, New Orleans will likely need to address the position in the NFL Draft. With that in mind, here are three wideouts the Saints should target in the draft.

1. Henry Ruggs III, Alabama Crimson Tide

Henry Ruggs III is a bonafide speed demon, and he'd be an excellent fit alongside Thomas. While Thomas specializes on intermediate routes, Ruggs could be a fantastic deep threat in New Orleans, as he averaged 18.6 yards per reception this season (T-No. 25 in the NCAA). That ability to stretch the field could open up a lot of options for the Saints, making the offense more dynamic than it already is.

Full Story - The Duel

By Nick Shook | Around The NFL Writer

With Super Bowl LIV in the books, the offseason is upon us. To get ready for the NFL Scouting Combine, free agency and the 2020 NFL Draft, Nick Shook and Gennaro Filice are taking a division-by-division look backward to evaluate each team's crop of 2019 rookies, weighing hits and misses -- then looking forward at areas for each squad to focus on in the coming months. Shook examines the NFC South below.

RANK A- TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS

Round 1: (No. 5 overall) Devin White, LB, 13 games/13 starts.
Round 2: (39) Sean Murphy-Bunting, CB, 16 games/10 starts.
Round 3: (94) Jamel Dean, CB, 13 games/5 starts; (99) Mike Edwards, S, 15 games/7 starts.
Round 4: (107) Anthony Nelson...

By John Sigler | Saintswire

It won’t surprise anyone that the New Orleans Saints are strapped for cash and draft picks in 2020. The team’s strategy of maximizing their resources has created a cycle of spending future assets to win now, and it’s resulted in the best three-year stretch in Saints history.

So expect that to continue this offseason. The Saints will not hesitate to trade next year’s draft picks to move up and target a prospect they really believe in, and they’re also willing to get creative in contract structures to fit everyone in beneath the salary cap. The situations in each area are going to change whenever the new NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement is ratified and once this year’s compensatory draft picks are awarded, so don’t look at these numbers as more than well-educated guesses. But where do the Saints stand right now?

We’ll start with the salary cap. The analysts at Over The Cap are working with an estimated 2020 salary cap of $200 million, which has the Saints with just under $9.4 million in cap space. ...

Full Story - Saintswire - USA Today

NewOrleansSaints.com

The National Football League released the list of players invited to the 2020 NFL Scouting Combine on Friday. The National Champion LSU Tigers led all schools with 16 players invited:

Joe Burrow, QB, LSU
K'Lavon Chaisson, LB, LSU
Saahdiq Charles, OL, LSU
Lloyd Cushenberry, OL, LSU
Grant Delpit, DB, LSU
Michael Divinity, LB, LSU
Clyde Edwards-Helaire, RB, LSU
Blake Ferguson, LS, LSU
Kristian Fulton, DB, LSU
Justin Jefferson, WR, LSU
Rashard Lawrence II, DL, LSU
Damien Lewis, OL, LSU
Thaddeus Moss, TE, LSU
Jacob Phillips, LB, LSU
Patrick Queen, LB, LSU
Stephen Sullivan, TE, LSU

A total of 337 prospects are invited to attend the annual event, which will take place in Indianapolis from Feb. 24 through March 1. The New Orleans Saints hold the 24th overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft in April. ...

Full Story - NewOrleansSaints.com