What Saints GM Mickey Loomis Said And Revealed Ahead of This Year's NFL Draft

Saints GM Mickey Loomis held his customary pre-draft press conference on Tuesday afternoon, discussing where New Orleans is at ahead of the chaos to come.

NEW ORLEANS -- Saints general manager Mickey Loomis met with the media on Tuesday afternoon for his annual pre-draft press conference. This is actually the 40th year for Loomis when it comes to the NFL draft, as his days began with the Seattle Seahawks back in 1984. We learn a few things regarding New Orleans when it comes to these, but Loomis will never tip his hand on what the team will actually do. Here's some of the biggest takeaways from his interview, which you can watch the full press conference here.

Trading Up

"I feel like it's been good for us, yes," Loomis said when talking about the team's track record of trading up. The Saints will look 10 spots up and 10 spots back to help play out a few different scenarios. There's pre-draft conversations that GMs have that discuss what it would take to move up and what could be on the table for moving back. The phone calls gauge a team's inclination to move and such, and there's an active process before the first team is on the clock. One thing Loomis pointed out in last year's presser was that it's easier to deal with existing and familiar GMs.

The Saints obviously are without a pick in Rounds 3 and 4, but that's not something that's on the top of their mind right now. "I don't know that we're thinking about that right now," Loomis said after being asked about the possibility of moving into those rounds. He mentioned that it will depend on what players are available and the extra 5th Rounders could help bump it up. The process of establishing the board doesn't really change for the team despite their abundance of Day 3 picks, and it would be surprising to see them use all seven of them.

One other point to bring up is that the addition of new coaches won't change the process, but the team has sought their valued opinions and input, especially coming from other programs. He also said that there are some 'musts' the Saints need to address, but did not want to get into anything specific. He also said that the need is variable, but not 'the' variable.

Strengths of the Draft

Loomis said that this is a good year for offensive players in the draft. In particular, he mentioned the offensive line and wide receiver as strengths. For a team that needs both of those positions, that's absolutely a good thing. We won't be surprised to see these be the top two picks, but we'll see.

Outlook For 14th Pick

The Saints like the group of players that should be available at No. 14, and Loomis said, "I think we're going to get a really good player." New Orleans has their top 14 players ranked heading into Thursday night and will see how teams pick. “If someone from below that list gets drafted ahead of 14, that’s a win for us."

Post-Draft Free Agency

The Saints will be players in free agency after the draft, as Loomis said they'll 'keep looking' and be in the mix with some good players still being available. This obviously tracks with recent years, and New Orleans made several big additions post-draft last season and have plenty of times. He was asked about potentially bringing back Andrus Peat, but declined to say anything other than that he's a free agent right now.

Trevor Penning

As we've discussed and have previously reported, the plan is still for Trevor Penning to play left tackle. The new offensive line coaching staff is eager to work with him, and the Saints haven't given up on him yet by any means. This new Klint Kubiak System could actually help Penning in a lot of ways.

Ryan Ramczyk

Not much has changed on Ryan Ramczyk. Loomis said the team has a good sense of where their right tackle is, but added that he doesn't know that anything has changed from when Dennis Allen gave us an update at the Annual League Meetings. He reiterated that the Saints have time left, but things haven't exactly been going in the right direction yet.

Marshon Lattimore

Loomis said "yeah" on if he feels confident that Marshon Lattimore will be on the roster this season. He added that "Everybody is tradable, it depends on the offer you get." He also said that he doesn't like trading players that have been contributors. It's obviously never say never, and Loomis also said that he wanted to avoid the question. Nothing is set in stone regarding Lattimore.

He also said that opportunities to trade for a player or trade away a player are not as abundant as some think. There's a lot of variables that impact a team's decision to trade away a player, which includes salary cap implications, replacement options and value. That's why it wouldn't make much sense for Lattimore to get dealt during the draft, but after would be a time to pay attention to.

New Kickoff Rule Influence

Loomis was asked whether or not the new kickoff rule would change how the team might prioritize positions differently. The Saints have had a lot of discussions with their special teams coaches and people that have had experience with it to get the makeup of those units. Most of it has been discussions and how it affects the roster remains to be seen, but it is a topic for New Orleans.

New Tech In The Draft Room

The Saints have a new draft room with some added technology in it this year. They have access to some new applications that will help speed up accessing information, player details and much more. There is a definite overload of data that comes in now, and Loomis was asked about how RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) incorporates into their process, but the team is still learning how to process that information best. One thing that was asked during the presser was evaluation last year's draft class, to which Loomis said, "I think it remains to be seen." He typically waits three years to evaluate, so it'll be interesting down the line to see how this changes, if at all.