Will The Saints Trade Up In the First Round of the 2024 NFL Draft?

Its like Christmas Eve and the Fourth of July all wrapped into one for NFL fans...it's the NFL Draft. Which all kicks off with tonight's first round. Today is the day where every NFL team's record is the same, all teams have hope, and your team is supposed to be instantly better with every pick they add to their roster. There are no "busts" during the draft, so everyone is still exciting.

The New Orleans Saints have the 14th pick in the first round of the draft. They also have a second round pick, which is 45th overall, then 4 picks in the fifth round, 2 in the sixth, and 1 seventh round pick. That's not a great inventory of picks heading into a draft, but depending on what happens ahead of them in the draft, this could be a really good night for the Saints.

Originally, the team was going to be looking at the defensive side of the ball in the draft when the season ended. But this offseason has been loaded with issues along their offensive line. Making that their new primary focus.

This draft isn't exceptionally deep on top-tier offensive line talent. There are currently just two lineman who grade out as potential Pro Bowl level players. Those are Notre Dame's Joe Alt and Oregon State's Taliese Fuaga. Alt is the top lineman prospect in the draft, and could go as high as #5.

For the Saints, getting either Alt or Fuaga to fall to #14 would be their best case scenario. But with all of the other teams looking for line help, they may have to get creative to secure one of these two if they feel that strongly. Which isn't something they shy away from anyway.

The Saints have been known to make some moves in the NFL Draft, and if they really want Alt on their roster, they're going to have to work up a plan.

Teams like the Los Angeles Chargers, Tennessee Titans, and New York Jets all have some level of need on the offensive line. If the Chargers take Alt at #5, the Saints would HAVE to trade ahead of the Titans to secure the next best offensive lineman. Which means they'd have to cut a deal with the New York Giants.

The Giants will be targeting a top tier wide receiver in the draft, and if they feel one of the top 3 options will be there at #14, they will be listening to an offer from the Saints. But looking over this year's Saints draft, they don't have the capital to make the move up. That means the Saints would have to dip into next year's draft stock to make something happen.

In next year's draft, the Saints have all of their picks, except the 7th round pick. So they could package some of this year's cache of 5th round picks, with next year's 2nd round pick, and it MIGHT be enough to swing the trade.

And yes, it will have to be picks in the trade, because the Giants are in the market for a receiver, and the Saints don't have depth at that position to trade away. The only quality piece they have is Chris Olave, and they won't be letting him go in a draft day trade.

Now if there's a situation where other teams start moving up to get tackles, and the Saints start to realize that they will be left with the 5th or 6th best lineman if they stay at #14, they may panic and try to trade into the 10th or 12th spot, which would possibly involve a trade with former Saints Coach Sean Payton's Denver Broncos. Making a trade that moves up a shorter distance costs less, and the team might be able to do it with this year's picks.

But if you move up 2-3 spots, lose picks from this year, and still don't get a blue chip lineman...would it really be worth it?

If you asked me to bet right now, I think the Saints pick at #14, and they take the best tackle that falls to them.