Fantastic Athletic article with Ireland on the draft. Also, we didn’t want to trade up for Mac (1 Viewer)

[sfidc3]

We’re at the point where some people are convinced that Payton and Ireland are lying. Their evidence is a rumor championed by a couple of Patriots beat writers, Lombardi and Howe.

Just let them believe what they want to believe.

Lying? That is kind of a reach...they have the right to say publicly whatever they want, they don't have to reveal anything with regards to their real draft strategy....Personally I prefer this...

They clearly were looking for a QB, that much is obvious from the selection of Book.

Nothing is obvious based on them drafting Book. They took a flyer on an athletic QB in the 4th round....

 

[MLU]

Everyone has "sources." His have never really been that informative. I just thought you were referring something definitive in the article (i.e. from Ireland).

Lol... I know there is Jeff Duncan hate on this board, but now you're just being silly. You don't cover an NFL team for as long as he has covered the Saints without developing sources. You'd be unemployable. Not only is that NOT the case for Duncan, he's been given unfettered access by the likes of Payton and Brees that I would argue no one has ever been given.

Ireland was remarkably candid in the interview. So much so, that I'm inclined to believe Duncan's tweet. After everything that was shared in t he article, it makes no sense for Ireland to suddenly lie about the Saints trying to trade up for Mac Jones.

 

[MLU]

Have Payton and/or Ireland ever said they did not try and trade up for a QB? The rumor just does not seem that far fetched to me. It is really not an issue as it did not happen (as many attempts of trades never pan out). Not sure why it would upset some if they did try to trade up for a QB.

If Mac Jones had been special enough, they would have. AJ McCarron 2.0 doesn't possess a single special trait that warrants a first round choice.

I don't believe for a second that the Saints didn't want the last first round QB especially after reaching for Book.

The problem here is that mock draft "experts" are your measuring stick for "first round QB". If you have been a Saints fan of any amount of time, you'd know that the Saints list of players and the Mock Draft Community's list of players rarely look the same. Who are you going to listen to when it comes to a player's value? Writer's whose lists are loosely based on each other's content and publicly available scouting reports whose only success is measured by the number of times they get you to click on their articles?

OR

NFL front office personnel, whose lists are based on privately developed, secreted information built around specific team metrics, profiles, etc. gathered by professionals whose jobs are on the line if they're wrong?

This isn't a difficult choice, folks. If you're still not convinced, then look at the track records of former "Mock Draft Guru's" like Mike Mayock or Mike Lombardi when they're given front office personnel duties. They're terrible.