3 trades Saints have to make to avoid being playoff pretenders
By Joe Romano
The New Orleans Saints have already made one move to help their team but more help could be on the way prior to next week’s trade deadline.
After a 2-2 start the Saints rallied to two straight wins against teams that made the playoffs a year ago beating the Washington Football Team then the Seahawks, with a bye sandwiched between. In total, three of New Orleans’ four wins have come against 2020 playoff teams, with the blowout win over the Packers in Week One being the other. With back-to-back division games upcoming New Orleans may get aggressive to aid their team into the playoffs.
Earlier in the week, the Saints acquired a familiar face from the Houston Texans; Mark Ingram. The veteran back returns to New Orleans where he and Alvin Kamara were an elite duo back in 2017. That reunion only costs the Saints a swap of late-round picks. It leaves them the ability to utilize some other draft capital to strengthen the squad.
Defensively, led by Cameron Jordan and Marshon Lattimore, New Orleans is allowing less than 17 points per game, ranking third in the NFL. This is a unit that can carry this team, especially if Jameis Winston continues to limit his turnover worth plays. The eventual return of Michael Thomas and Ingram acquisition should help a struggling offense. However, that is where this team needs to focus to make a playoff push.
3. Andy Isabella and a 2022 7th Round Pick for a 2022 6th Round Pick
This move is a low-risk move for a player that has flashed talent in small doses, with the keyword being small. The 5-foot-9 Andy Isabella is buried in Arizona behind DeAndre Hopkins, A.J. Green, and Rondale Moore. You can’t blame him for not seeing the field often, if at all. The former second-round pick in 2019, famously known for being taken before D.K. Metcalf, would be a welcome addition to a Saints’ receiver room that has struggled in 2021.
Isabella came from small UMass but put on a show at the NFL Combine with his 4.31 40-yard dash. Pair that speed with Winston’s big arm and Sean Payton’s creative offense and it could be a good match. At that low of a price, it is a roll of the dice that the wide receiver needy team may look at.