Nah man, you said the Saints always draft need. You went on to say that EVERY team drafts based on need. That's not the case. You found a quote that states that's not the case. We have examples from during the draft NOT your hindsight opinion after a few seasons. We don't have to argue this. This isn't an argument. The Saints draft philosophy had been BPA. As of late, it's been the same except for in the first round when it's obviously been the check box approach. The results have been subpar with maybe Olave and Bresee being the only successes since 2018. I just find it weird having this "argument" because we can go back to the threads. We can see the thoughts on each pick. We can see the thoughts leading up to the draft. It's totally obvious when the Saints have gone BPA, and that's usually the case with the exception of those 1st round picks when they were clearly targetting a player or position. And again, we see how those turned out.
So cool, now you get it. If all that other rationalizing helps you feel better about it, so be it. "It's BPA at a position of need" is nothing more than BPA. After free agency, unless you have an all-pro (like with Brees at QB) at a position, ALL positions are needs and can upgraded. Drafting a QB during Brees' prime was the only position off the table. That's because Loomis knew and knows that every position is an injury, trade, or DUI away from being a need. If the draft happened in January or August (just illustrating a point, I know that's not feasible), a team's biggest "needs" would be different because needs are relative to time. You don't build your team around unpredictable everchanging circumstances. You build it by amassing the best players. If you end up with 2 amazing players at 1 position, that's never going to be a problem. And every team in the league will take that problem over having a player that filled a need (Penning, Turner, Davenport for example), but isn't working out.
Loomis knows that BPA translate to wins on the field or trade/draft capital off of it.