Saints Trading Up For Leonard Williams Gaining Momentum

On the eve of the 2015 NFL Draft a scenario that was presented yesterday about the New Orleans Saints trading up for USC defensive tackle Leonard Williams is gaining some steam.

The buzz started with NOLA.com beat writer Larry Holder’s final mock draft where he had the Saints trading up with the Washington Redskins to take Williams with their 5th overall pick.

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Holder’s fellow writer at NOLA.com Jeff Duncan made the same exact proposal in his final mock draft but with a trade involving the Oakland Raiders 4th overall pick.

Williams is thought to be the best overall player in the draft itself and a trade up would likely come with a heavy price tag.

Nov 29, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Southern California Trojans defensive end Leonard Williams (94) celebrates against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

A team in the Top 5 would likely want both of the Saints first round picks at #13 and #31….at the very least.

Some fans argued that this is too steep of a price and the Saints need to keep all of their draft picks.

Holder presented this very compelling argument to that notion:

I tend to agree with Larry on this one even though at first I’ll admit just a month ago I voted for the Saints to use all nine picks to select players to stack their roster.

In reality as many have noted over the past week, even if you did draft nine players all nine won’t be on the final roster.

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The best analogy or argument here for the Williams trade would be quality over quantity.

WWL 870 AM draft analyst Mike Detiller has a famous saying when talking about a player like Williams,

"He’s not just a good player..he’s dominant!"

And that speaks to Williams as well in regards to his ability to come in and have an immediate impact with the Saints defensive line.

Players like outside linebacker Junior Galette will certainly earn his contract value and the Saints will need to hurry and extend defensive end Cameron Jordan because Williams will help boost both of their stats.

….. Aug 15, 2014; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints linebacker Junior Galette (93) and defensive end Cameron Jordan (94) celebrate after a sack during first half of a preseason game against the Tennessee Titans at Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

On WWL 1350 AM’s Double Coverage this morning, LSU’s defensive line coach Ed Orgeron had some high praise for Williams.

Orgeron actually has first hand experience with Williams since he helped recruit and coach him while Orgeron was the defensive line coach at USC.

Yes it would be nice for the Saints to have nine draft picks that could start on Day 1 of the season.

But as the hours tick away to the draft, that scenario is sounding more outlandish than the Williams trade would ever be…..

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