Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
By Ross Jackson
Once the third day of the NFL Draft was over, New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis met with the local media and let one quick joke fly.
“Well, look, I didn’t trade up and we drafted an LSU player so there shouldn’t be any questions,” he quipped as the room erupted in laughter.
Mickey got jokes 🤣 pic.twitter.com/YZxHyPJvwv
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) April 25, 2026
Behind the joke is a true sentiment. One that shows a changing of the times for the Saints. A positive one, at that. After years of trying to extend their championship window, a practice every NFL team undergoes when there’s a window to hold open, New Orleans truly embraced its opportunity to rebuild beginning with last year’s draft.
Even though, at the time, New Orleans didn’t know that former quarterback Derek Carr would surprisingly retire due to a shoulder injury, the team paced itself through the draft knowing it would at least be looking at a restart in the coming years. That timeline accelerated with Carr’s decision.
By then, the Saints wisely stood pat and let the draft come to them, making nine selections that formed an award-winning class and netted them the player that may be their next quarterback of the future in second-round selection Tyler Shough.
In 2026, the Saints took a similar route and though Loomis admitted to looking for a chance to trade up in the second day, the club stood pat to open the draft, where he said he made no phone calls in an attempt to leap up from No. 8 overall. In doing so, the Saints landed the best wide receiver in the draft, Jordyn Tyson, and gave Shough a new weapon in the passing game that will also be a willing contributor to the run.
The Saints could have pushed to move up, giving up more assets than they were comfortable surrendering, but instead remained steadfast in what they thought was acceptable value. In doing so, they’ve landed yet another promising class and, with the one trade the team did make, an edge rusher with revitalized potential.
Loomis clued everyone into the possibility that this would be the case in the 2026 NFL Draft the day before it began.
“When you have a Drew Brees,” he said. “When you have that caliber of quarterback, you’re always feeling like you’re one player away. And so (you say) ‘Man, let’s go get the one player.’ When you have a young quarterback and you’re developing your roster, then you’re not one player away, so you’re less inclined to give up a number of assets to get one player.”
The team held to exactly that belief as the draft went on. No one player was going to put this team over the top. But perhaps eight (or nine including the trade) could.
It’s an awareness of where the team currently stands and how to best continue toward building a winner. Not trading up was more than just a jab against expectation, it could be a knockout blow that propels New Orleans back into competing for its division with aspirations of hoisting another Lombardi Trophy in the future.
Super Bowl expectations are more than optimistic as soon as 2026. The team is just looking to compete within the NFC South right now. But, it all has to start somewhere and for the Saints, it may have just begun with a little bit of patience and a good joke.
