Mickey Loomis does not sound like he is very willing to make a ton of moves at the NFL trade deadline.
The 2024 NFL season has turned into a nightmare for the New Orleans Saints. New Orleans started the season hot on a two-game winning streak, but has since lost six straight games. Their regular season looks like it could be over soon, but that does not mean that the Saints will suddenly enter rebuild mode in the middle of the season.
Saint general manager Mickey Loomis dropped a fiery take on Tuesday that suggests the Saints may not be active at the trade deadline.
“I'm not really one that thinks trading away half your roster makes a lot of sense at this point generally for what I think are undervalued offers,” Loomis said, per Nick Underhill.
This is a bit of a non-statement from Loomis. He is correct in not wanting to gut his own roster for very little in return. However, nobody seems to be asking him to do that. However, it does seem reasonable that the Saints might part with a player or two at the deadline to gain some draft capital for the future.
The Saints are 2-6 heading into Week 9 and have practically no chance of making the playoffs. This is even true if Derek Carr comes back from injury soon and returns the Saints to their dominant form from the beginning of the season.
Does this mean that the Saints will not be sellers at the NFL trade deadline?
Mickey Loomis is correct to not want to blow up his entire roster in the middle of the season. However, that does not mean that the Saints will not be sellers at the NFL trade deadline.
One name that makes some sense is defensive end Chase Young. The former second overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft is merely a depth player behind Cameron Jordan and Carl Granderson right now. It may be wise for the Saints to send him to a new team and get something in return.
Young has experience thriving after a mid-season trade, as the Commanders traded him to the 49ers at the deadline last year. Young fetched a third-round pick in return, which is a solid return for a player like him. Beyond having experience being traded in-season, Young is also on a one-year contract. That gives any team trading for him the flexibility to let him walk in free agency if they do not want to retain him.
If New Orleans can engineer a trade similar to this, they should jump all over it.
