Saints Predicted To Swing Franchise-Altering Trade For Star Quarterback

The Saints may look to trade up to pick No. 5 in the NFL Draft.

Nov 5, 2023; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Detailed view of the New Orleans Saints helmets on the team bench against the Chicago Bears during the first half at the Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images | Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

The NFL Draft is going to be a huge day for the future of the New Orleans Saints. While the Saints looked good at times last season, they have huge holes to fill with prospects in the draft.

While there could be solid prospects available for the Saints at pick No. 9, they could explore the idea of trading up into the top five or trading down into the backend of the first round.

Cody Benjamin of CBS Sports recently predicted the Saints would swing a blockbuster trade with the Jacksonville Jaguars to move from pick No. 9 to pick No. 5 in the first round of the NFL Draft. With this pick, Benjamin predicted the Saints would draft Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders.

"The Saints might be able to sit tight and get Sanders at No. 9 overall," Benjamin wrote. "They could also leapfrog the Raiders just to be safe, giving new coach Kellen Moore a traditional pocket passer to develop behind Derek Carr. New Orleans needs an arm of the future."

The idea of this trade up would be to jump the Las Vegas Raiders and New York Jets so that the Saints could land a potential quarterback of the future.

Sanders is supremely talented, yet a lot of mock drafts suggest he'll fall out of the top five picks. The Saints have a chance to land him at pick No. 9, but why take the risk?

In this scenario, the Saints would likely part ways with a few later draft picks in this or next year's draft in order to move up with the Jaguars. But if Sanders turns out to be their franchise guy, the deal will be well worth it.

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