2022 NFL Draft: Saints appear to have mortgaged future in trade with Eagles to win now

The New Orleans Saints were aggressive in trading for an additional first-round selection in the 2022 NFL Draft. Philadelphia is sending the No. 16 overall and No. 19 overall selections in the 2022 NFL Draft to New Orleans in exchange for No. 18 overall, No. 101 overall, No. 237 overall, a 2023 first-round pick and a 2024 second-round pick, both teams announced Monday afternoon. The Eagles are also sending the No. 194 overall pick to the Saints. 

There have been a number of rumors surrounding the Saints’ reasoning behind the trade. It was suggested that they wanted to get ahead of Los Angeles to draft an offensive tackle. The trade was made more than three weeks before the start of the 2022 NFL Draft. The Chargers could trade with the same Eagles organization at No. 15 overall to get back ahead of the Saints. It boils down to the understanding that the NFC South franchise would make this deal on draft night if that was the purpose of the move. The theory holds no water. 

It was also floated around that the Saints could be interested in trading up inside the top 10 to select an offensive tackle or quarterback. The No. 16 overall and No. 19 overall selections would be enticing to any team in a possible trade-up scenario. However, if Houston or the Giants were on the other end of the phone, those future draft assets just traded to Philadelphia, would have presumably been of more interest than an additional pick this year. Both teams could have used those picks to trade up in the event that they decided to draft a quarterback next year. 

In 2016, Philadelphia traded up from No. 13 overall to No. 8 overall before making the final move up to No. 2 overall where they selected Carson Wentz. Perhaps New Orleans needed to orchestrate a deal for a stepping stone first. Even if the intent were to trade up for a quarterback, it would entirely be too rich for me personally. The talent of these…