Trading high-priced stars and acquiring draft picks are often the hallmarks of teams beginning a rebuild in the NFL, so when the New Orleans Saints dealt tight end Jimmy Graham to the Seattle Seahawks for a young center, Max Unger, and a first-round pick eyebrows were raised.
Attention was turned to quarterback Drew Brees' massive contract, and his elevated interception totals in 2014. Brees did lead the NFL in passing yards with 4,592, but he was picked off 17 times, just one time less than league leaders Jay Cutler and Blake Bortles. At 36 years old, coming off a subpar (for Brees' standards) season, and having traded away his top target, speculation grew that New Orleans was plotting to trade Brees with his value still high and kickstart a makeover.
General manager Mickey Loomis is throwing cold water all over that notion. "Anybody who thinks we're trading Drew Brees, that's just not true," Loomis told USA Today. He also denied the Saints have serious salary cap problems going forward.
"We're not in cap jail," Loomis said. "That's a myth since it's always a year to year deal."
Recent moves do imply that the Saints are trying to remain contenders while shifting their strengths around. Unger should help protect Brees more than he was last season, while re-signing Mark Ingram and adding running back C.J. Spiller may indicate a heavier reliance on the running game.
The Saints are also expecting improvements on defense when expensive safety Jairus Byrd is back patrolling the middle of the field. New Orleans' defense ranked 31st in the NFL, with only the Falcons topping their ineffectiveness.
With two first-round picks now, the Saints may use them both to address their needs in a draft class replete with pass rushers. If the team truly plans on keeping Brees around, that makes more sense than packaging the picks for a chance to draft Oregon prospect Marcus Mariota.
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