The bad news facing the Saints this year is that they’ve been forced to focus for most of the offseason on getting their salary cap under control. The good news for the Saints is that they have the best stockpile of picks early in the draft of any team in the NFL.
The Saints are the only team with five picks in the first three rounds of the draft: They have their own picks as well as the Seahawks’ first-round pick from trading Jimmy Graham and the Dolphins’ third-round pick from trading Kenny Stills. Those are picks No. 13, 31, 44, 75 and 78. No other team has five picks in the Top 100.
That means the Saints can acquire some good players at low prices. And that’s exactly what the Saints need. Although New Orleans has made plenty of moves to get its salary cap situation under control, the Saints still have less than $5 million in available cap space this year, and are likely to be in rough cap shape next year as well.
It’s an odd thing to say about a team with Drew Brees at quarterback, but the Saints are a rebuilding team. Fortunately, they have the picks they need to rebuild.