With no 1st round pick at the moment, Does that mean the Saints have to be aggressive in Free Agency? (1 Viewer)

[Trey W.]

Re-sign the majority of our own FA’s first like:
Ingram
Peat
Lutz
Okafor (unless they believe Davenport is ready to be the full time starter and Hendrickson his backup)
Teo
Davison
Robertson
LeRibus
Bromley
PJ Williams

Then go after
TE
Jesse James
Uzomah
Maxx Williams

DT
Hankins
Hunt
Jarret

Backup OT
Jordan Mills
Andre Smith
Greg Robinson

A backup RB/WR/DB that can return kicks

 

[St.Dan]

Perhaps we could trade Bridgewater to the Ravens for one of their 4 young TEs? Maybe move Ingram to them for a first and pick up the next star RB with it? I hear they are looking at him.

Yes to the first part due to the compensation we'd get, and a hearty hell-no to the second part

 

[Le_fleur_fan_78]

My bet is that they do try to make a move up, although it's not what I would prefer to see them do.

I think that DL is suddenly a concern, particularly DT.

Exactly, with the recent issues on the DL we have to address depth. I could see us making a move to get into the 1st. Is there any way we could sign Bridgewater and then trade him? I dont know how that works.

 

[Le_fleur_fan_78]

Do what we always do and try and take care of major needs in free agency then allow yourself to draft BPA in the draft.

So yes, we will be very aggressive. This is Drew's last year (presumably), look at us to be more aggressive than we ever have been.

I had a strange dream where Drew took an executive position with another team I woke up shocked. I can't remember the details or what team, but I felt crushed in the dream. Weird.

 

[byrdzilla]

Man if can keep this team together plus make a Demario Davis-esque move, look out. 16-0

 

[livefromDC]

The Saints approach the off season as if FA and the draft are totally unrelated. They will try to sign the Saint FAs they want to retain while filling as many holes in the roster as possible. The Saints will try to enter the draft with no perceived "needs" and having added depth at each position. Then, they will use the draft to either add the best players available regardless of position or move up in the draft to get a player they really like.

They wont be any more aggressive or less than they usually are because the two are unrelated. They have a plan. That plan for free agency is never with the expectation that they will be able to do x, y, or z in the draft. Smart teams don't plan to draft specific positions because they know that there's no guarantee that the players you envision will be there when you're on the clock.

 

[B_doggman47]

I believe the Saints will be just as aggressive as they have been. I don't believe the cap will be a problem with Loomis handling it. We should go after a TE in FA and DT. If the Bucs release McCoy, he would be the first one I'd bring in and go after Jesse James. We could also use some depth at NT. We either need to re-sign Bromley or bring in Danny Shelton, he could come cheap. But we need to take care of our own free agents first and foremost.

 

[dutar76]

Active yes. Aggressive? I don't know. I see us signing most if not all of our in-house FA's, then bringing in a few. It's possible that we even make a splash signing at either OL, DT, or TE. I just wouldn't count on it.

With our current cap, we're probably good for one maybe two above-mean contracts. Just have to be careful with any expensive multi-year deals. For every one of those we make, we lose one of our super-star young players in the near future.

Draft will likely be a bore-fest for us Saints fans. We get to get excited for exactly one pick this year, and that's in the very late 2nd round. Still possible to bring in a guy who contributes immediately at that spot though. That's actually earlier than we picked up Kamara. That's a rare find, but it is possible.

 

[TriPolarTroy]

The best part about not having a 1st round pick is no mock draft posts every 15 minutes ....js

 

[RJ in Lafayette]

A few things.

1. The Saints are never passive in free agency, and I expect that they will be aggressive this year. Little draft capital, and many needs.

2. I hope the team does not trade away high future draft picks. The probability is high that next year they will be needed to make a major trade to move up in the first round to pick a quarterback.

3. I hope the team does a better job of drafting in the lower rounds. Last year's draft was overall poor. There is no excuse for your four draft picks in rounds four though six not to make the opening-day roster. We needed then and need now quality depth at nearly every position--quarterback, running back, wide receiver, tight end, offensive tackle, defensive line, and defensive back.

 

[AARPSaint]

A few things.

1. The Saints are never passive in free agency, and I expect that they will be aggressive this year. Little draft capital, and many needs.

2. I hope the team does not trade away high future draft picks. The probability is high that next year they will be needed to make a major trade to move up in the first round to pick a quarterback.

3. I hope the team does a better job of drafting in the lower rounds. Last year's draft was overall poor. There is no excuse for your four draft picks in rounds four though six not to make the opening-day roster. We needed then and need now quality depth at nearly every position--quarterback, running back, wide receiver, tight end, offensive tackle, defensive line, and defensive back.

I find myself agreeing with every word of this post.

 

[Trey W.]

Perhaps we could trade Bridgewater to the Ravens for one of their 4 young TEs? Maybe move Ingram to them for a first and pick up the next star RB with it? I hear they are looking at him.

For starters as has been pointed we can’t trade Bridgewater as he is a FA. Second if he were to sign with us again it would be with the intent of him being the starter once DB retires. Third, if we were to sign and trade, Baltimore is all in on Jackson given they just traded Flacco and I’m sure Bridgewater would want to go somewhere he is not a backup. Lastly, Ingram is also a FA and would not sign to be traded away.

 

[saint_drago]

Well it seems like the Saints would be active in free agency with so few draft picks. That would be the obvious thing to do to bring in more talent. But this FO rarely does the obvious thing.

With only two picks in the first 5 rounds it doesn't seem like they would have the ammo to make another major move. I don't even want to thing about how much we'd have to give up to get into the first round. Make no mistake though, if they see a guy that they just have to have they'll do whatever it takes to go up and get him. This FO doesn't use the scatter gun approach where you draft a bunch of guys and hope for the best. They are snipers.

I'm kind of torn because on the one hand I want to keep our future picks. But then on the other hand it would be great to draft a guy who can have an instant impact because we don't have much longer with Drew.

 

[dutar76]

A few things.
3. I hope the team does a better job of drafting in the lower rounds. Last year's draft was overall poor. There is no excuse for your four draft picks in rounds four though six not to make the opening-day roster.

I disagree with this somewhat. Only 53 players can be on the team. They were not good/ready enough to make last year's squad because it was stacked. We wanted to stash some or even all of them on our practice squad. However, they were sniped off waivers by other teams and used throughout the season. That's not drafting badly, that's drafting normal, but having too good a team to be able to keep them. Just my opinion.

 

[RKNSaint]

I kind of think this is going to be a slow offseason for us. We are low on draft ammo. Likely some new blood but I don't see a big splash. Anybody know the status of Teddy B? Is he still on the team? I thought he might offer some draft capital if we choose to move him but I don't think his limited play with limited supporting cast helped much.