Saints met with top QB prospect Cam Ward [Schefter: CLE, NYG or maybe Saints have to make an offer compelling enough for #1 pick]

[RaisingTheBar]

When Carolina moved up to number 1 after trading with the Bears, it was over a month before the draft. The Saints probably would have made this move already if they're super confident Cam Ward is their franchise guy. There is no reason to wait to make that move. You're not waiting till draft day to make that move because the closer you get, the more other teams have time to call the Titans.

This is true however it doesn’t mean it has to be done now. If Titans are even entertaining trading the pick they obvs want the best deal possible, so they could be wanting teams to outdo one another. It could take weeks if anything is done.

 

[tyler735]

When Carolina moved up to number 1 after trading with the Bears, it was over a month before the draft. The Saints probably would have made this move already if they're super confident Cam Ward is their franchise guy. There is no reason to wait to make that move. You're not waiting till draft day to make that move because the closer you get, the more other teams have time to call the Titans.

Young and Stroud were basically consensus top 2 picks at that point along with Richardson shooting up draft boards as well. I’m sure Carolina was sold on taking one of those 2-3 QB’s even if they didn’t for sure know which one until after the pro days.

This draft has one top QB in Ward then guys like Sanders/Dart that don’t seem to be viewed as highly. It would make sense for the Saints to wait until after Ward’s pro day and a potential private workout to make any potential trade. I would think if they are going to do it anytime soon would make sense. However I do think the chance is fairly small that it happens at this point.

 

[AdamWest]

I don’t think it’s that. It just has to be for the right prospect. Don’t force it and grab a QB just because you need one. There just needs to be a high level of conviction that it’s the right QB.

For the record, I do like Ward, just not with the added risk of trading tons of premium assets for him.

But now you're in the weeds of if he's the right prospect or not because most of the talk of not doing it is built in... it not working. The Saints LOVE Ward, probably more than any team in the league. They loved Mahomes too and they waited then (not saying Ward is Mahomes as I said back then that Mahomes would be the best QB in the league). Shrugs. I'm never gonna fault a team for trying to address the most important position in football / sports.

 

[AdamWest]

Yet the Chiefs were a great example of a team trading up to get “their guy” at QB. A guy that wasn’t considered a “generational talent” at QB, but one with many traits they liked and great production in college. Certainly some parallels to Ward. They traded their 2017 first, 2018 first, and a 2017 third to jump ahead of the Saints to get Mahomes.

Ding ding ding - thank you!

 

[St. Widge]

Yeah more Turners/Foskeys/Millers etc will bring us back right?

If they don’t do the trade Mickey is salviating to draft Stewart or Mykel Williams at 9. Or an injured CB or an OL that doesn’t fit.

Unless of course the new staff can completely change course which is doubtful.

I like the idea of trading up for Ward, but if the Titans don't want to deal, there isn't anything that can be done about it. Beyond that if they will only do a deal for an outrageous number of picks that is higher than the pick value then it's probably not a deal you want to make.

Beyond that, if you think they are going to blow the pick at #9, what makes you think they won't blow the pick at #1? And, frankly, if you are convinced that they are going to blow every pick, there really isn't any point in any of this anyway.

Regardless, many of the picks that everyone complains about, i.e. Davenport, Turner, were picks made at least with Payton's strong approval. You have a new staff now with new schemes and new ideas about player fits. The way they draft is sure to change to some extent but we won't know if that change is for the better or for the worst for at least a few years.

 

[St. Widge]

When Carolina moved up to number 1 after trading with the Bears, it was over a month before the draft. The Saints probably would have made this move already if they're super confident Cam Ward is their franchise guy. There is no reason to wait to make that move. You're not waiting till draft day to make that move because the closer you get, the more other teams have time to call the Titans.

Moore was only hired like 1 1/2 months ago so deciding on the future of the franchise after about 2 weeks on the job, including a couple days off for the Super Bowl parade, would have been a very odd move. Especially since he didn't even hire his OC until almost 2 weeks later. I'm sure they have not or had not decided how much they like Ward until recently given how much other stuff, including free agency, that Moore and Nuss had to work on in about a month.

Plus, the move up by Carolina to draft Young was done at the insistence of the owner so that's why it got done so early.

And, FWIW, Underhill reported that the Saints did call the Titans to find out what the cost for moving up to the #1 pick to draft Ward would be, but at the time the cost was too high. So, it's not like they haven't been thinking about it.

 

[St. Geezy]

Yet the Chiefs were a great example of a team trading up to get “their guy” at QB. A guy that wasn’t considered a “generational talent” at QB, but one with many traits they liked and great production in college. Certainly some parallels to Ward. They traded their 2017 first, 2018 first, and a 2017 third to jump ahead of the Saints to get Mahomes.

They didn’t go to pick 1 for him. That carries a different level of weight, a different level of compensation.

 

[St. Geezy]

But now you're in the weeds of if he's the right prospect or not because most of the talk of not doing it is built in... it not working. The Saints LOVE Ward, probably more than any team in the league. They loved Mahomes too and they waited then (not saying Ward is Mahomes as I said back then that Mahomes would be the best QB in the league). Shrugs. I'm never gonna fault a team for trying to address the most important position in football / sports.

If the conviction level within the building is as high as you say, then I would not find fault. Price has to be right. A move from 9 to 1 is going to take a significant compensation package, one that would wreck us for many years if Ward ends up being a busta.

Trust me, I don’t completely disagree with you if the team feels that way about the player; I am just not as “all in” on the idea as you are.

We may not recover for more than a decade if we misfire on this one.

 

[St. Widge]

But now you're in the weeds of if he's the right prospect or not because most of the talk of not doing it is built in... it not working. The Saints LOVE Ward, probably more than any team in the league. They loved Mahomes too and they waited then (not saying Ward is Mahomes as I said back then that Mahomes would be the best QB in the league). Shrugs. I'm never gonna fault a team for trying to address the most important position in football / sports.

I don't have a problem with the Saints making a big move to draft Ward if they like him that much. But, given how much the Titans appear to like him, the cost would be very high. Which is fine, but they damn well better have a really good plan for how they are going to build a team around Ward without multiple premium picks because their mid-round picks have been very underwhelming.

We don't have close to the roster that K.C. had when they moved up to get Mahomes.

The one thing that could make the cost reasonable enough is either including Olave in a trade with the Titans or trading Olave to the Pats to move up to #4 and then moving from #4 to #1. But that will depend on how the Titans or the Pats feel about Olave's injury history. Carr could have been a good piece to a trade with the Titans to reduce the draft pick cost, but I don't think we can absorb the cap hit of a pre-June 1 trade.

 

[St. Widge]

If the conviction level within the building is as high as you say, then I would not find fault. Price has to be right. A move from 9 to 1 is going to take a significant compensation package, one that would wreck us for many years if Ward ends up being a busta.

My bigger concern is how do you build a team around Ward without all those premium picks? They would need to become amazingly good at drafting in the mid-rounds to make up for the loss of premium picks. That alone could mean Ward doesn't make it, not because he lack the talent but because they couldn't build the team around him.

 

[AdamWest]

I don't have a problem with the Saints making a big move to draft Ward if they like him that much. But, given how much the Titans appear to like him, the cost would be very high. Which is fine, but they damn well better have a really good plan for how they are going to build a team around Ward without multiple premium picks because their mid-round picks have been very underwhelming.

We don't have close to the roster that K.C. had when they moved up to get Mahomes.

The one thing that could make the cost reasonable enough is either including Olave in a trade with the Titans or trading Olave to the Pats to move up to #4 and then moving from #4 to #1. But that will depend on how the Titans or the Pats feel about Olave's injury history. Carr could have been a good piece to a trade with the Titans to reduce the draft pick cost, but I don't think we can absorb the cap hit of a pre-June 1 trade.

I reported 9/40/71/next year's 2nd or 9/40/next year's first round pick. I'd assume Carr would be in the mix as well. I think the Titans like Ward and may now are zeroing in on him as their guy but that certainly was not the case the last month or so as they really have wanted Abdul Carter. Because this QB class isn't last year's and Ward isn't seen to be the same level of prospect that Bryce Young was, the cost to move up is considered lower. However, I've always maintained I highly doubt TEN does the deal because moving to 9 takes them out of the range of Carter or Hunter which is something I'm 99% sure they don't want to do.

But premium picks are just that... they are premium until they become players and then they are... Payton Turner? Davenport? Penning?

 

[St. Geezy]

I reported 9/40/71/next year's 2nd or 9/40/next year's first round pick.

What do you mean by reported? Are you privy to the negotiation specifics?

There’s no way that’s all it is going to take to jump the board from 9 to 1.

The Panthers just two years ago traded their current year’s first and second round picks, their first round pick of the following year, their second round pick the year after that, and a star WR to go from 9 to 1.

Are you really going on record and saying you have been told a specific trade price in a NFL draft trade negotiation from someone actually involved in the talks?

 

[St. Widge]

I reported 9/40/71/next year's 2nd or 9/40/next year's first round pick. I'd assume Carr would be in the mix as well. I think the Titans like Ward and may now are zeroing in on him as their guy but that certainly was not the case the last month or so as they really have wanted Abdul Carter. Because this QB class isn't last year's and Ward isn't seen to be the same level of prospect that Bryce Young was, the cost to move up is considered lower. However, I've always maintained I highly doubt TEN does the deal because moving to 9 takes them out of the range of Carter or Hunter which is something I'm 99% sure they don't want to do.

But premium picks are just that... they are premium until they become players and then they are... Payton Turner? Davenport? Penning?

I get that they wasted picks on Turner, Davenport, Foskey, and maybe Penning, but if they are going to be sheetty in the draft then it's not going to matter who the QB is because he won't have the talent he needs around him and the difficulty of doing that without two first and two seconds is going to be high for a team that is already aging.

I really like Ward and would do any reasonable deal to get him. But, I think there has to be a limit or else you aren't being fair to Ward because you won't be able to build around him properly. If they can do it for 9/40/71 and next years 2nd, I'd be ecstatic with that deal and I'd even do it happily if next year's second is next year's first. But, I'm not sure the Titans would be willing to do the deal for that. I think the Titans are at least going to want 9/40 this year, our 1st and 2nd next year and maybe some sweetener otherwise they will just take Ward. They may even want 3 firsts. Especially if they also really like Ward.

As far as Carr, I don't think it's possible to trade him until after June 1, but maybe it would soften the blow of the assets they would trade for Ward if they knew they could get a 2nd round pick in return for Carr after June 1. But, I'm not sure Carr is worth that on the trade market and the landing spots for Carr are shrinking and could get smaller after the draft.

But, I agree this deal is highly unlikely to happen. The one way I think maybe the Titans do this deal is if we can find a way to move up to #4 with New England by trading them Olave for the move up to #4. Then we trade #4 (and other picks) to the titans for #1. #4 should put the Titans in position to take either Carter or Hunter.

 

[Saint Spud]

Moot point, unfortunately. Titans had everyone at his pro day yesterday and Ward put on a show. Even the in-house video team as there, plus they went out to dinner the night before.

Cant see them entertaining a trade down now (if they ever were)