New Orleans is in no position to move up from 9 to 1.
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results, so with that being said…
In 1999, the New Orleans Saints‘ front office traded their first, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh round picks in that draft as well as the first and third rounders in the 2000 NFL Draft to move up to five and select Heisman Trophy winner Ricky Williams out of Texas.
Eight premium picks for one player that stayed in New Orleans for just three years before going to Miami, getting into some trouble and for the most part, finishing off a rather underwhelming career.
Sure, Williams had a few really strong seasons, including his 1853 yards in 2002, but he never lived up to those eight draft picks.
Fast forward 25 years and there have been rumors that the Saints are looking to do something similar.
Now, this time may not include so many picks, but the story is almost the same: trade up to the first overall pick to draft Cam Ward, a quarterback that flourished at Miami and was a finalist for the award Williams won in 1999.
Cam Ward pic.twitter.com/YG9OkH3oKV
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 24, 2025
Ward is regarded by many as the top prospect in this draft class after throwing for 4,313 yards and 39 touchdowns while leading the Miami Hurricanes to a 10-3 season. He won the Manning Award and the Davey O’Brien Award as the nation’s top quarterback.
However, in my opinion, you just can’t risk your future for a maybe, and you surely can’t do it when you have more holes to fill than just a quarterback.
There is no doubt in my mind that Cam Ward has the potential to be a really good quarterback in this league (I think he’s currently overrated, but that’s just me). However, the Saints are not in a position of luxury where a) they only have to fill a single need at quarterback and b) truly have the draft capital to be sending the Tennessee Titans 2-3 years of premium picks to be moving that far.
Not to mention, as good as people think Ward may be, he’s the fourth or fifth QB taken in a typical draft. He is benefitting from an extraordinarily weak quarterback class.
With saying all of this, do I think the Saints actually move up to one and do this? No, I don’t. It just isn’t Mickey Loomis’s style. But it needs to be said so that the rumor train can slow down just a little bit on social media.
I’m sorry Who Dat Nation, but Cam Ward will not be your quarterback in 2025.
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