Article Exploring How the Saints Could Trade Up for Cam Ward

[SystemShock]

I see a ton of elite QBs on that list. The ones that were had elite defenses…and not just elite but all-time great types. Certainly, you can strive to build that’s type of elite defense but that’s not happening in the next three years. The easiest way to become elite is by hitting on an elite QB. Statistically that is much more likely to occur in the early rounds. You can find the Warners/Bradys out there but you are talking about perhaps the two biggest outliers in NFL history. This doesn’t typically happen by luck.

Yes, you see a ton of elite QBs on that list. What you don't see, is many that won SB's with the teams that gave the farm to get them within the 10 first pics in the draft.

Brady - 6th rounder, FA with the Bucs.
Brees - FA, no SB with Chargers, and was a 2nd rounder to begin with.
Warner - FA off the arena league
P. Manning - straight up 1st overall for the Colts, no trades, plus FA for the Broncos.
Rodgers - straight up 24th overall
Stafford - a correction here, I listed Stafford as FA, but he was part of a trade with the Rams; he was a well established, veteran NFL QB at the time, though.

Again, only 2 teams have won SBs with the QB they drafted within the 1st 10 picks. One is P. Manning, 1st overall, no trades; the other is Mahomes.

So, statistically speaking, it is better to not make the mistake of trading multiple picks (especially 1st rounders) for a QB who has not thrown a pass in the NFL.

I personally don't care about the "elite" label. I care about my team winning the SB. Elite, top 5, top grade... show me the trophy case.

 

[RJS]

Yes, you see a ton of elite QBs on that list. What you don't see, is many that won SB's with the teams that gave the farm to get them within the 10 first pics in the draft.

Brady - 6th rounder, FA with the Bucs.
Brees - FA, no SB with Chargers, and was a 2nd rounder to begin with.
Warner - FA off the arena league
P. Manning - straight up 1st overall for the Colts, no trades, plus FA for the Broncos.
Rodgers - straight up 24th overall
Stafford - a correction here, I listed Stafford as FA, but he was part of a trade with the Rams; he was a well established, veteran NFL QB at the time, though.

Again, only 2 teams have won SBs with the QB they drafted within the 1st 10 picks. One is P. Manning, 1st overall, no trades; the other is Mahomes.

So, statistically speaking, it is better to not make the mistake of trading multiple picks (especially 1st rounders) for a QB who has not thrown a pass in the NFL.

I personally don't care about the "elite" label. I care about my team winning the SB. Elite, top 5, top grade... show me the trophy case.

Wasn't Bradshaw the number one overall pick by the Steelers? Bob Griese with the Dolphins? Jim McMahon? Phil Simms? Troy Aikman?

Not including Elway or Eli is technically correct but seems like semantics.

 

[sammymvpknight]

Yes, you see a ton of elite QBs on that list. What you don't see, is many that won SB's with the teams that gave the farm to get them within the 10 first pics in the draft.

Brady - 6th rounder, FA with the Bucs.
Brees - FA, no SB with Chargers, and was a 2nd rounder to begin with.
Warner - FA off the arena league
P. Manning - straight up 1st overall for the Colts, no trades, plus FA for the Broncos.
Rodgers - straight up 24th overall
Stafford - a correction here, I listed Stafford as FA, but he was part of a trade with the Rams; he was a well established, veteran NFL QB at the time, though.

Again, only 2 teams have won SBs with the QB they drafted within the 1st 10 picks. One is P. Manning, 1st overall, no trades; the other is Mahomes.

So, statistically speaking, it is better to not make the mistake of trading multiple picks (especially 1st rounders) for a QB who has not thrown a pass in the NFL.

I personally don't care about the "elite" label. I care about my team winning the SB. Elite, top 5, top grade... show me the trophy case.

The sample size is also really small for trade ups. How many QBs were drafted over the past 20 years that involved significant trades?

 

[JackDiesel]

Yes, you see a ton of elite QBs on that list. What you don't see, is many that won SB's with the teams that gave the farm to get them within the 10 first pics in the draft.

Brady - 6th rounder, FA with the Bucs.
Brees - FA, no SB with Chargers, and was a 2nd rounder to begin with.
Warner - FA off the arena league
P. Manning - straight up 1st overall for the Colts, no trades, plus FA for the Broncos.
Rodgers - straight up 24th overall
Stafford - a correction here, I listed Stafford as FA, but he was part of a trade with the Rams; he was a well established, veteran NFL QB at the time, though.

Again, only 2 teams have won SBs with the QB they drafted within the 1st 10 picks. One is P. Manning, 1st overall, no trades; the other is Mahomes.

So, statistically speaking, it is better to not make the mistake of trading multiple picks (especially 1st rounders) for a QB who has not thrown a pass in the NFL.

I personally don't care about the "elite" label. I care about my team winning the SB. Elite, top 5, top grade... show me the trophy case.

You also don't see teams without a good QB on that list. Even Flacco and Foles who aren't elite had amazing runs to get to the Super Bowl with each winning Super Bowl MVP. You're simply not winning anything without a QB.

You're also not screwed if you trade up and fail. The 49ers gave up 3 first round picks and a 3rd to get Trey Lance. Completely whiffed and played in the Superbowl 2-3 years later.

 

[texasjefe]

Remind me gain, which current Saint compares to Ray Lewis, Shannon Sharpe, Jamal Lewis, Tony Siragusa, Jonathan Ogden, Peter Boulware, etc...

Ozzie Newsome did some fine General Managing back in the day with talent.

We did sign Chris McCalister, and I see he played in two games, had a forced fumble, and 4 special teams tackles.

Adding - I did read your post clarifying your point.

My point is that I just don't think Cam Ward is worth selling the house and the land for. I would hope Kellen Moore has sat Mickey Loomis down and said no more Funkin Donuts with the Picks.

 

[Treybad]

Well never gonna find another franchise QB through Free Agency so might be a bust but gotta roll the dice since we always teeter tottng with making the playoffs , so gonna have to trade up to get one eventually

 

[tyler735]

I'm not into picking apart a post. So I'll just address a few things. You claim Ward didn't show any red flags, but tell me what good defenses he played against that would've forced red flags? Sanders didn't face any either and struggled against BYU and Nebraska. Ward may not have bombed out 1 single game, but he didn't face anyone either. How does he respond if his offensive line is getting dominated? We haven't a clue in 2024. In 2023 it wasn't good. He struggled a lot with an inferior oline. When they struggled, he struggled badly. Was there a play calling issue? gameplan issue? QB issue? Really hard to say. But in 2024 he was never tested in the sense of how he responds when his offense struggles. So it's folly to say "there's no red flags" when he has struggled whenever his offense as a whole didn't dominate the team in front of him and there wasn't a defense in 2024 to determine if he grew from that.

If this were true, then sure there may be an argument. However the real folly is to say he’s never tested/performed well against top competition.

Cam Ward played 9.5 games (he played half a game and dominated in the bowl game against Iowa State in 2024) against ranked teams during his entire time at Washington State and Miami.

In 9.5 games against ranked teams he had:

2,919 Passing Yards (307 passing yards per game)
25 Touchdowns (2.6 touchdowns per game)
6 Interceptions (.6 interceptions per game)

Over the past 2 seasons, he played 4.5 games against ranked teams. In those games he had:

1560 Passing yards (347 passing yards per game)
14 Touchdowns (3.1 touchdowns per game)
2 Interceptions (.4 interceptions per game)

In other words, if you average out his production against ranked competition over the past 2 seasons, his 13 game average would be:

4,511 Passing Yards
40 Passing Touchdowns
5 Interceptions

His opponents in those games were: Washington (Played in National Championship that year), Oregon (#9), Oregon State (#14), Wisconsin (#19), and Iowa State (#18)

I simply get an impression that Ward is being a bit overhyped by many, and he'll have some struggles adjusting to the NFL just like any rookie QB. But with Ward, theres cause for concern. He was on a very talented offense and was never truly put up against equal talent. So we don't know what those struggles to adjust will look like.

Yes that is pretty much standard that any young QB will have growing pains. As shown above, Ward had no issue putting up great production over his career against top competition. One of Ward's greatest attributes is how composed and calm he is under pressure. Plenty of top tier traits for him to be a great NFL QB. I don't mind the Saints taking a chance if Moore thinks he's the guy that he wants to work with at QB. This franchise is long overdue to take a chance on a QB high in the draft.

 

[DerrickB]

 

[WhoDat?DrewDat]

If Cam Ward was Jayden Daniels 2.0 then yes, but he is not. He’s a good QB but if he came out last year he would have been picked in the 2nd round. I would take a flyer later in the draft and look at next year when it’s supposed to be a better class at QB. Plus, we’re stuck with Carr for a year.

Even if he WAS Daniels 2.0 3 first round picks is not worth it.

We don't have a talented roster to begin with. Commanders could take that hit. Very real chance our next 3 frps are all top 10.

 

[St. Widge]

So it looks like the Titans are going to take Ward and it would take a crazy trade offer to get him. So, as much as I like Ward, I don't think we are in a position to get him for a trade that would make sense.

Hopefully Moore sees a 2nd to 4th round guy that he likes and thinks he can develop. Regardless of what anyone thinks about Carr, he only has one year left on his deal after this year at a crazy high salary, and he's about to be 34 so it's time to get a young QB in the building to develop if at all possible. We built an offensive staff to teach and develop young QBs, it's time to start adding more of those to the QB room. If not this year, then next year.

 

[WhoDat?DrewDat]

So it looks like the Titans are going to take Ward and it would take a crazy trade offer to get him. So, as much as I like Ward, I don't think we are in a position to get him for a trade that would make sense.

Good. Let's rebuild the roster first then jump for a QB.

 

[3ParStillDriver]

If I were the Titans I'd take him. Its there. It's free. The price has been paid by a terrible season. Sure, if someone is willing to pay a kings ransom for that pick, you have to consider it. But there are only 4 players better (Carter, Graham, Jeanty and Warren) but none of them are QB's and out of those 4, maybe only Jeanty can carry an offense. But Ward might be able to also, and franchise QB's are excessively rare, so you have to take one over a franchise RB.

 

[tyler735]

So it looks like the Titans are going to take Ward and it would take a crazy trade offer to get him. So, as much as I like Ward, I don't think we are in a position to get him for a trade that would make sense.

Hopefully Moore sees a 2nd to 4th round guy that he likes and thinks he can develop. Regardless of what anyone thinks about Carr, he only has one year left on his deal after this year at a crazy high salary, and he's about to be 34 so it's time to get a young QB in the building to develop if at all possible. We built an offensive staff to teach and develop young QBs, it's time to start adding more of those to the QB room. If not this year, then next year.

I'd imagine Rattler will also fit the bill for that if we aren't going all in on trying to trade up for Ward. I am very curious to see how Rattler develops under Moore's coaching (and hopefully with real weapons on offense this year).

 

[JackDiesel]

Well never gonna find another franchise QB through Free Agency so might be a bust but gotta roll the dice since we always teeter tottng with making the playoffs , so gonna have to trade up to get one eventually

Yeah FA is out. And finding a QB in the draft will help us get our cap right since you get 4 years of QB play at a massive discount. I think it's a year early to pull the trigger on a trade but if Moore found his guy and we don't have to overpay then I'd be down.

 

[texasjefe]

Wasn't Bradshaw the number one overall pick by the Steelers? Bob Griese with the Dolphins? Jim McMahon? Phil Simms? Troy Aikman?

Not including Elway or Eli is technically correct but seems like semantics.

Bradshaw 1970 1.1
Griese 1967 1.4
McMahon 1982 1.5
Simms 1979 1.7
Aikman 1989 1.1

5 QB's from before free agency started. Before 1993, you either had to draft them or trade for them. Also, pre-1978, the regular season was 14 games.