New Orleans Saints: Why the Saints won’t be active at the trade deadline

The NFL Trade Deadline is creeping up but I still would not expect the New Orleans Saints to make any significant noise.

The NFL Trade Deadline is not as exciting as some of the other trade deadlines in the big four sports but it can still provide some blockbusters. The Los Angeles Rams just provided this year’s blockbuster in trading for Jalen Ramsey. If you are a New Orleans Saints fan, I would not expect the same activity.

There is still some time for the Saints to make any big moves. The Trade Deadline is on Tuesday, October 29 at 3 p.m. CDT. That gives the Saints just under two weeks to make any moves that can improve the roster.

There are areas to improve as well, so it is no surprise that we have heard the Saints in certain reports, one of which being that they are potentially interested in Cincinnati Bengals’ tight end, Tyler Eifert.

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We even broke down the potential price in trading for Bengals’ wide receiver A.J. Green, who appears to be a lock to be traded at some point in the next two weeks. After doing that article, and realizing what the Saints would be willing to spend, it became clear that the team probably won’t be very active.

I would not be surprised if we saw some minimal deal including a seventh-round pick for some depth piece but outside of that, the New Orleans Saints have the team already that they are going to finish the year with.

In that Green piece, we maxed out Green’s value at a third-round pick and a future fifth or sixth-round pick. That is fair, as at his best Green is probably worth a first or second but he does have injury concerns and is a free agent after this season.

What makes him worth a third is that he is still efficient when he is on the field. He was on pace to surpass 1,000 receiving yards yet again last year but only played nine games.

Regardless of whether or not Green is worth it is a different discussion. What was realized while setting that price is that the Saints should not be trading any more picks from the 2020 NFL Draft and it is hard to see a team trade half a season of a player now for draft picks that are all down the line.

The Bengals, or any other team looking to trade assets, should want to start the process this upcoming offseason.

The Saints have already traded away their second and seventh-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. Trading a first would leave them without a selection until the third, trading a third would put far too much space in between their first and their next pick.

Trading multiple late-round picks would even have its own repercussions. The Saints should have no reason to want to dwindle next year’s draft to only two or three picks.

If the franchise was at a different point then it would be one thing. However, we still do not know how long Drew Brees is going to be the starting quarterback and whether or not the Saints needs to use a selection in the 2020 NFL Draft on a quarterback.

If they use their first-round pick in 2020 on a quarterback to either take over for Brees or sit behind him for a year or two then it limits what they can do with the other areas of the team. If they trade a third-round pick, they would essentially strip away the possibility of finding a rookie that can be an impact starter right away.

Sure, that could be found in the fourth round, but the options at that point are going to be limited.

And quite frankly, while there are areas to improve without a doubt, the New Orleans Saints will be just fine with what they have. They are already 5-1 without their starting quarterback, after all. Brees coming back can serve as the massive trade deadline acquisition that improves the team.