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This ESPN column picks a best trade ever for each team. For the Saints, Triplett chooses the trade of Pat Swilling to the Lions for draft picks that turned into Willie Roaf and Lorenzo Neal. A very fine choice to be sure.
Having come into my Saints fandom somewhat later, my first thought was the 2008 trade for Jonathan Vilma: we sent the Jets two picks that turned into Dwight Lowery and Deandre Levy; we also got a pick that turned into Stanley Arnoux, but that part is best forgotten. We don't win the Super Bowl without Vilma. I'm sure there's other good candidates.
Best trade every NFL team has ever made
Having come into my Saints fandom somewhat later, my first thought was the 2008 trade for Jonathan Vilma: we sent the Jets two picks that turned into Dwight Lowery and Deandre Levy; we also got a pick that turned into Stanley Arnoux, but that part is best forgotten. We don't win the Super Bowl without Vilma. I'm sure there's other good candidates.
Saints trade for draft picks, select offensive tackle Willie Roaf and fullback Lorenzo Neal.
The price wasn't cheap, because they gave up linebacker Pat Swilling, who had 76.5 sacks in seven seasons with New Orleans. But the Saints wanted to get tougher in the trenches, so they traded him to the Lions for the No. 8 and No. 89 picks in the draft. With that No. 8 pick in the 1993 draft, they landed Roaf, one of only two primary Saints players in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Roaf was selected to 11 Pro Bowls with the Saints and Chiefs and was on the all-decade teams in both the 1990s and 2000s. Neal was a nice bonus, too. He became a four-time Pro Bowler while playing for seven teams in 16 years. -- Mike Triplett
Best trade every NFL team has ever made