Fansided

New Orleans Saints: List of 2017 NFL Draft picks

By John Buhler

Dec 24, 2016; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton with quarterback Drew Brees (9) before a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 24, 2016; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton with quarterback Drew Brees (9) before a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

The New Orleans Saints will have seven picks in the 2017 NFL Draft to get better as a football team. Here’s a look at when they are picking this year.

The New Orleans Saints hung around the NFC playoff picture into the final weeks of the 2016 regular season. However, New Orleans would fall short of playoff contention for the third straight year, finishing with a 7-9 record and a third-place finish in the NFC South.

New Orleans still has one of the best passing game tandems in football in quarterback Drew Bree’s and his head coach Sean Payton. That being said, the Saints just can’t keep winning shootouts if they want to bring a second Lombardi Trophy to The Big Easy in the Brees/Payton ear of New Orleans football.

The Saints have seven picks in the 2017 NFL Draft, including two in the first round, to get better as a football team this spring. Here is when they are picking and where they should look to improve their roster through the upcoming draft.

Round 1 – 11th overall
Round 1 – 32nd overall
Round 2 – 42nd overall
Round 3 – 76th overall
Round 4 – 118th overall
Round 6 – 196th overall
Round 7 – 229th overall

New Orleans’ own first-round pick probably needs to be used on getting a pass rusher that can play opposite of defensive end Cameron Jordan. The Saints defense is at its best when it can get penetration and disrupt the pocket for the other team. This is a deep pass-rushing class, so the Saints should be in good shape to land someone good in the early part of the first round.

Next: Every NFL Team's Best Draft Pick Of All-Time

The Saints also have the last pick of the first round thanks to the trade they made with the New England Patriots for wide receiver Brandin Cooks. New Orleans could go in a lot of directions at the end of the first-round, maybe even replacing Cooks on the outside. It wouldn’t be a bad idea for Saints general manager Mickey Loomis to use that second first-round pick to move up or out of the first round entirely. It’s a good leverage piece for the Saints to work with this April.

Home/New Orleans Saints