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Can you talk about the tough schedule early in the season?

“I kind of like the schedule, I'll be honest with you. Our opponents are predetermined. It's just a matter of when we play them. We received our bye week right in the middle of the season. I liked that. Those first four weeks are tough opponents, but we're going to have to play them anyway during the course of the year. It is not like you can avoid playing teams you perceive as being pretty good. I think in the first half, we’re playing five of the eight, I think are playoff teams from a year ago. That is just the way it goes. We're looking forward to it. We're looking forward to playing the guys on the schedule that we have and we've got four prime time games, three of those are at home. I like that too. I think we like our schedule.”

Did the teams’ free agent signings fill most of the holes to allow you to pick the best available player in the draft?

“I think for the most part, yes. That is always our goal. We have a list of items we want to get accomplished in the offseason and I think for the most part we did that. We’ll go into this draft and it is a little different when you do not have that first round pick. We are picking at 62, so it's a lot tougher to predict who's going to be available to you. But I like the position we're in.”...

John DeShazier | Senior Writer - NewOrleansSaints.com

The offseason “to-do” list still has unchecked items on it, because everything can’t be accomplished in the narrow window that exists between February and April.

But the New Orleans Saints apparently like what the areas they’ve addressed on the list, with the NFL Draft, on Thursday through Saturday, the next task to be tackled.

New Orleans’ gains and supplements in free agency – which includes signing defensive tackle Malcom Brown, defensive end Mario Edwards Jr., running back Latavius Murray, returner Marcus Sherels and center Nick Easton, and re-signing quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, linebacker Craig Robertson and safety Chris Banjo – better placed it in position to take the best player on its board, rather than stretch for a need.

“That’s always our goal,” Executive Vice President/General Manager Mickey Loomis said Monday, during a predraft news conference with local media. “You have a list of items that we want to get accomplished in the offseason and I think for the most part, we did that.

Full Story - NewOrleansSaints.com

By Luke Johnson, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune

Thursday could be a long and ultimately fruitless night for the New Orleans Saints, who may not have the ammunition required to make a move back into the first round of this week’s NFL draft.

Of course, the reason they will not be picking in their original spot late Thursday (April 25) night is because they shipped that pick off around this time last season, when they traded up for Marcus Davenport.

While Davenport’s development was halted by injury last season, the Saints remain confident the move will pay off in the long run.

“We like Marcus, and we’re looking for big things from him,” said Saints General Manager Mickey Loomis.

Full Story - NOLA.com

By James Parks | 247 Sports

One of the New Orleans Saints’ draft prospects looks to be ahead of schedule, and potentially now out of their reach in the NFL Draft.

Former Notre Dame defensive tackle Jerry Tillery is recovering from his offseason shoulder surgery faster than doctors had predicted and is now expected to be fully ready for team activities in July, according to a report from NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport.

Tillery recently met with shoulder specialist Dr. Peter Millett in Colorado, and it was determined during that consultation that the player was recovering faster than was originally anticipated.

While that’s certainly good news for the player, it may not be for the Saints.

Full Story - 247 Sports

By Luke Johnson, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune

Count New Orleans Saints General Manager Mickey Loomis as someone who is not worried about his team’s daunting first month of the season.

“I kind of like the schedule, to be honest with you,” Loomis said during a pre-draft press conference Monday (April 22).

Sure, the Saints are faced with the difficult task of playing four straight weeks against teams that made the playoffs the year before to start the season. And yes, two of those games are on the road against West coast teams Seattle and Los Angeles.

Full Story - NOLA.com

By John Sigler | Saintswire

New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis held his annual press conference with local media before the 2019 NFL Draft, previewing his team’s needs and reflecting on the offseason thus far. The press conference was broadcast live on the Saints’ website and from their official social media accounts on Twitter and Facebook.

In response to a suggestion of there being a notion that the Saints always trade up, not back, Loomis responded wryly: “There’s a notion because there’s history.” The Saints made traded down from their original suggestions just twice since Sean Payton was hired as head coach, back in 2006 and 2007. They haven’t done it again since. Still, Loomis admitted that the Saints are always open for business, saying, “We’d be open to trading back if the timing is right and if the value is right.”

Full Story - Saintswire - USA Today

By Staff | The Advocate

If you're hopeful the New Orleans Saints will trade up and jump into the first round of the upcoming NFL draft, General Manager Mickey Loomis has some news for you.

"It's pretty hard to get from pick 62 into the first round," he said at a pre-draft news conference Monday.

With "less ammunition" than past years, Loomis said trading up in the draft will be more difficult than past years -- if it's a scenario the Saints are even interested in. Three of New Orleans' top four 2019 draft slots have already been traded away, and the team isn't slated to pick until late in the second round.

Full Story - The Advocate

By Luke Johnson, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune

It was apparent early that Irv Smith Jr. was a gifted athlete.

When he was a toddler, Irv Jr. could dribble a basketball with both hands and make baskets on a regulation-sized hoop. He was maybe 2 or 3 years old when he would go in the backyard with his father, Irv Sr., and play catch with a football. His mother, Rose Matamoros, remembers an awkward moment when a stranger asked if her 4 or 5-year-old son lifted weights (he didn’t, of course).

The only question was which sport he would excel at most. But maybe that was never really a question.

“I think football was something that was inside of him from the day he was born,” Irv Sr. said.

Full Story - NOLA.com

By Kristopher Knox | B/R

There are several reasons why the NFL draft is such an exhilarating and intriguing event. There are always surprises, disappointments and the potential for franchise-altering draft classes—the kind the Oakland Raiders are hoping to haul in with their three first-round picks in 2019.

Of course, having multiple first-round picks doesn't guarantee a tremendous draft haul. The 2014 Cleveland Browns, for example, had two first-rounders and ended up with Justin Gilbert and Johnny Manziel. Yikes. Of course, they had two first-rounders last year and landed Baker Mayfield, Denzel Ward and Nick Chubb in the first two days, a franchise-altering haul.

There are other recent examples that should provide hope for rebuilding franchises like Oakland. Here, you'll find a look at the 10 best draft hauls of the last decade—based on factors like team impact, leaguewide impact and statistical production.

Full Story - B/R