The Philadelphia Eagles and the New Orleans Saints made a rare pre-draft day trade that involved only picks on Monday. In exchange for the Eagles’ 16th, 19th and 194th overall selections, the Saints are sending their 18th, 101st, and 237th overall picks in 2022, as well as their 2023 1st rounder and 2024 2nd round draft pick.
Typically trades such as this occur on draft day itself when teams have a better idea of who will actually be available before pulling the trigger. However Saints GM Mickey Loomis has long been a proponent of getting bodies into the building “a year early”, which is why New Orleans was willing to double dip this year and forgo their 2023 1st round selection.
The deal however opens several sliding door scenarios for both teams. The Saints now have multiple first rounders this year, and could use those picks in a variety of ways.
It’s no secret that New Orleans needs help at multiple positions. The team lost Pro Bowl Left Tackle Terron Armstead to the Dolphins in free agency, starting safety Malcolm Jenkins to retirement, and head coach Sean Payton to… well whatever it is he decides to do next.
With a new head coach, not much to work with in terms of cap space, and the loss of several starters, the Saints are currently attempting to create an identity in their post-Drew Brees era. Since the future HOF quarterback’s retirement, New Orleans has cycled through Jameis Winston, Taysom Hill, Trevor Siemian, and Ian Book under centre.
Some of that was necessitated by injury, while others saw time as the QB1 due to poor play by their peers. Which makes their acquisition of a 2nd first round pick this year all the more interesting.
If the season were to start today, Winston would be the starting quarterback for the franchise. However the Saints only committed to him for 2 years, with a reasonable out clause for 2023 built into the fine print.
The lack of a long term deal for the former Buc shows that the franchise is fine to let him take first team snaps for the moment, but provides them flexibility should he fail to fully recover from his torn ACL.
Then there’s former coach Sean Payton’s favourite gadget player Taysom Hill. The 31 year old has been with the franchise since 2018, and has managed to start 26 games during that span.
Unfortunately for Hill, without Payton at the helm lobbying for his services, it’s likely his time as a quarterback at the NFL level is officially behind him. A notion reinforced by the club’s signing of veteran QB Andy Dalton this offseason. With only 2026 passing yards, and an 8:8 career TD/INT ratio, Hill’s limitations as a passer were on full display last season.
Luckily, the former BYU Cougar signed a 4 year $40M deal prior to Payton’s departure, meaning he’s likely tied to the Saints for the foreseeable future. His contract is also one of the most intricate and incentive-ladened documents ever created.
With two veteran quarterbacks, each with their own set of question marks already in the QB room, and a third likely moving to Tight End, whether the front office elects to actually use their picks to build around the Winston/Dalton/Book triumvirate, or select their eventual successor will be a situation worth monitoring.
By the time the Saints picks roll around in the mid teens, it’s highly unlikely that Malik Willis will still be available. Therefore the question becomes whether New Orleans sees enough in Sam Howell, Matt Corral, or Kenny Pickett to justify taking them with one of their two 1st round selections, or whether they try to fill some of their holes along the offensive line, secondary or WR group with those selections.
There’s also the very real possibility that the Saints could attempt to package their two 1st round picks with some other assets to move up in the draft to select Willis outright as well. All in all, New Orleans at least now has options for this year, and will be highly motivated to ensure they’re competitive in 2022, as they won’t have a 1st round selection the following season.
Meanwhile on the flip side of the trade, the Eagles have a much more cut and dry road map following the deal with Loomis & Co.
Philadelphia still has two 1st round picks in the 2022 NFL draft, selecting at 15th and 18th overall. In giving away their 3rd 1st rounder this year, Philly is able to spread some of their draft capital over two seasons, while picking up an additional 2nd rounder in the process.
It also puts an end to the incessant narrative in Philadelphia as to whether the team will/won’t commit to Jalen Hurts as their starter. Across 19 starts, the 23 year old has accumulated 4,205 passing yards, 23TDs, 13INTs, while also rushing for 1,138yds and 13TDs.
The knock on Hurts since he broke into the league has always been his accuracy (he sports a 59% career completion percentage). However as evidenced by this offseason, there’s likely at least a dozen teams in the league right now who would kill to have Hurts and his team friendly deal on their roster.
Hurts is eligible for an extension following the 2022 season, and is set to become an unrestricted free agent in 2024. By flipping first rounders between 2022 & 2023, the Eagles are banking on: A) the Saints not being very good this year, and B) 2023’s QB class being far superior to that of 2022.
Many have compared this year’s QB class to the 2016 crop which featured the likes of Jared Goff, Carson Wentz and Dak Prescott amongst others. That is to say, it’s likely to produce some NFL level starters, but may be devoid of many true game changing signal callers.
Meanwhile the 2023 class has a little more star power to it as it’s widely expected Ohio State’s CJ Stroud, Alabama’s Bryce Young, or Boston College’s 6’5” pocket passer Phil Jurkovec amongst others will declare for the draft.
By accumulating a 2nd first rounder in 2023, the Eagles now have the luxury of fully evaluating Hurts this season and deciding whether to commit to him for the long haul, or take a swing at a promising prospect the following season.
Perhaps the great irony in all of this however is that the deals between the teams may not yet be done. With the Eagles picking directly in front of the Saints twice (15/18 to the Saints 16/19), there exists a very real possibility that if the board falls a certain way, both franchises could be eyeing the same players in the second half of the first round.
However, with a shrewd bit of maneuvering by Howie Roseman, Philadelphia will remain in the driver’s seat for 2022 when it comes to the two NFC franchises.
Make no mistake about it, there’s likely to be a flood of calls from teams trying to get inside the top 10 in this year’s draft class. And with stars at a variety of positions available, there will be more than a few franchises willing to entertain the thought of trading down and still getting “their guy”.
For Eagles fans, expect the Philly front office to target some help in the secondary, at WR or to improve the pass rush. But it appears, at least for now, that they’re content to let Hurts lead the offense in 2022. On the other hand, Saints fans have much less certainty when it comes to the QB1 position and this year’s draft.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner