Stock Up, Stock Down from the New Orleans Saints’ 2024 draft haul

This was the kind of draft that Loomis’ critics (including the author of this article) have been calling for. No aggressive trades leaping up half a round sacrificing future draft picks. No major reaches on prospects from small schools. We saw a patient approach that maximized value at every selection, leaning on safe athletic prototypes without ignoring good football players. It’s about time.

Some of that credit goes toward the group of advisors Loomis assembled this offseason. There were former current and former general managers either inside the war room or working in the front office over the last month: Loomis himself, vice president of college scouting Jeff Ireland (Miami Dolphins), plus consultants Dave Ziegler (Las Vegas Raiders) and Randy Mueller (Saints and Dolphins).

It says a lot that Loomis, the team’s ultimate decision-maker, was willing to surround himself with so many potential challengers; and we’re not even talking about potential future GM’s on staff like Khai Harley and Michael Parenton. That’s a wealth of experience which may have resulted in a less-aggressive and more-measured draft strategy. Hopefully it leads to better results than the wheeling and dealing we’ve grown accustomed to from Loomis.