List of New Orleans Saints first-round draft picks
The New Orleans Saints joined the National Football League (NFL) as an expansion team in 1967 and first participated in the 1967 NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting, more commonly known as the NFL draft.[1] In the NFL Draft, each NFL franchise annually seeks to add new players to its roster. Teams are ranked in inverse order based on the previous season's record, with the worst record picking first, and the second-worst picking second and so on. The team which wins the Super Bowl receives the last pick in the subsequent Draft, with the penultimate pick going to the losing team. Teams have the option of trading away their picks to other teams for different picks, players, cash, or a combination thereof. Thus, it is not uncommon for a team's actual draft pick to differ from their assigned draft pick, or for a team to have extra or no draft picks in any round due to these trades.[2]
In the 1967 NFL Draft, the Saints had two first-round picks; first and last. They traded away the first overall pick to the Baltimore Colts,[3] while with the 26th pick, they selected Leslie Kelley, a running back from Alabama.[4] The Saints have selected first overall once, drafting George Rogers in 1981,[5] second overall twice, drafting Archie Manning in 1971 and Reggie Bush in 2006,[6] and third overall once, drafting Wes Chandler in 1978.[4] The team's most recent first-round selection was offensive tackle Taliese Fuaga in 2024 NFL draft.
Key
[edit]^ | Indicates the player was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. |
---|---|
* | Selected number one overall |
† | Indicates the player was selected for the Pro Bowl at any time in their career. |
— | The Saints did not draft a player in the first round that year. |
Year | Each year links to an article about that particular NFL Draft. |
Pick | Indicates the number of the pick within the first round |
Position | Indicates the position of the player in the NFL |
College | The player's college football team |
Player selections
[edit]Footnotes
[edit]- ^ The Saints traded their #1 overall pick to the Baltimore Colts for Gary Cuozzo. The #26 pick still remained in their possession.[3]
- ^ The Saints traded their #5 overall pick to the Green Bay Packers and acquired this pick from the Minnesota Vikings.[7]
- ^ The Saints traded their #7 overall pick to the San Francisco 49ers and acquired this pick from the Minnesota Vikings.[8]
- ^ The Saints traded their #2 overall pick to the Baltimore Colts.[9]
- ^ The Saints acquired this pick from the Detroit Lions.[10]
- ^ The Saints acquired this pick from the New York Jets.[11]
- ^ The Saints relinquished their 1st round pick after taking a supplemental pick in 1981. They acquired this pick from the Green Bay Packers.[12]
- ^ The Saints traded their #11 overall pick to the Green Bay Packers.[13]
- ^ The Saints traded their #15 overall pick to the New York Jets.[14]
- ^ The Saints traded their #11 overall pick to the Houston Oilers and acquired the #24 overall pick from the Washington Redskins.[15]
- ^ The Saints traded their #4 overall pick to the Baltimore Colts for this pick.[16]
- ^ The Saints traded their #14 overall pick to the Dallas Cowboys.[17]
- ^ The Saints acquired this pick from the Detroit Lions.[18]
- ^ The Saints acquired this pick from the San Francisco 49ers.[18]
- ^ The Saints acquired this pick from the New York Jets.[19]
- ^ The Saints acquired this pick from the Oakland Raiders.[20]
- ^ a b The Saints traded their #12 overall pick to the Washington Redskins as well as their 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th round picks, and their 1st and 3rd round picks in 2000 for a 1st round pick in 1999.[21]
- ^ The Saints acquired this pick from the Miami Dolphins as well as a 4th round pick and a 1st round pick (#18) in 2003, for Ricky Williams and a 3rd round pick.[22]
- ^ The Saints acquired this pick from the Arizona Cardinals along with a 2nd and 4th round picks, for their #17 and #18 overall picks and a 2nd round pick.[23]
- ^ The Saints traded their #16 overall pick to the Houston Texans as well as a 3rd round pick in 2006 for this pick.[24]
- ^ The Saints traded their #10 overall pick to the New England Patriots as well as a 3rd round pick for this pick and a 5th round pick.[25]
- ^ a b The Saints acquired a 1st round pick in 2011 from the New England Patriots for a 2nd round pick and a 1st round pick in 2012.[26]
- ^ The Saints acquired this pick from the Arizona Cardinals in exchange for their first and third round picks (27th & 91st).[27]
- ^ The Saints acquired this pick and center Max Unger from the Seattle Seahawks in exchange for their fourth round selection (112th) and tight end Jimmy Graham.[28]
- ^ The Saints acquired this (32nd) and third-round (103rd) picks from the New England Patriots in exchange for their fourth-round selection (118th) and wide receiver Brandin Cooks.[29]
- ^ a b The Saints acquired this pick from the Green Bay Packers in exchange for their first- and fifth-round selections (27th and 147th) and a first-round selection in 2019.
References
[edit]- General
- "NFL Draft History: First Round by Team: New Orleans Saints". National Football League official Web site. Archived from the original on 2017-09-25. Retrieved 2017-09-24.
- "New Orleans Saints". drafthistory.com. Archived from the original on 2017-09-25. Retrieved 2017-09-24.
- Specific
- ^ Becnel, George (2009). When the Saints Came Marching in: What the New Orleans NFL Franchise Did Wrong (and Sometimes Right) in Its Expansion Years. AuthorHouse. p. 20. ISBN 978-1-4389-9187-0. Retrieved 2016-09-12.
- ^ Pittman, Andrew; John Otto Spengler; Sarah J. Young (2008). Case studies in sport law. Human Kinetics. p. 41. ISBN 978-0-7360-6821-5. Retrieved 2016-09-12.
- ^ a b Duncan, Jeff (2004-07-30). Tales from the Saints Sideline. Sports Publishing LLC. p. 174. ISBN 1-58261-770-8. Retrieved 2008-03-14.
- ^ a b "NFL Draft History: First Round by Team". NFL's Official Website. Archived from the original on 2012-10-16. Retrieved 2008-01-04.
- ^ "All Time Number 1 Draft Picks". NFL's Official Website. Archived from the original on 2010-01-05. Retrieved 2008-01-13.
- ^ "All Time Number 2 Draft Picks". NFL's Official Website. Archived from the original on 2008-01-17. Retrieved 2008-01-13.
- ^ "Pro Football Draft History 1968". profootballhof.com. Archived from the original on 2016-07-21. Retrieved 2016-09-12.
- ^ "Pro Football Draft History 1969". profootballhof.com. Archived from the original on 2016-07-21. Retrieved 2016-09-12.
- ^ "Pro Football Draft History 1973". profootballhof.com. Archived from the original on 2016-07-21. Retrieved 2016-09-12.
- ^ "Pro Football Draft History 1974". profootballhof.com. Archived from the original on 2016-08-22. Retrieved 2016-09-12.
- ^ "Pro Football Draft History 1975". profootballhof.com. Archived from the original on 2016-07-21. Retrieved 2016-09-12.
- ^ "Pro Football Draft History 1982". profootballhof.com. Archived from the original on 2016-07-21. Retrieved 2016-09-12.
- ^ "Pro Football Draft History 1983". profootballhof.com. Archived from the original on 2016-07-21. Retrieved 2016-09-12.
- ^ "Pro Football Draft History 1984". profootballhof.com. Archived from the original on 2016-08-22. Retrieved 2016-09-12.
- ^ "Pro Football Draft History 1985". profootballhof.com. Archived from the original on 2016-07-21. Retrieved 2016-09-12.
- ^ "Pro Football Draft History 1986". profootballhof.com. Archived from the original on 2016-07-21. Retrieved 2016-09-12.
- ^ "Pro Football Draft History 1991". profootballhof.com. Archived from the original on 2016-10-09. Retrieved 2016-09-12.
- ^ a b "Pro Football Draft History 1993". profootballhof.com. Archived from the original on 2016-10-11. Retrieved 2016-09-12.
- ^ "Pro Football Draft History 1994". profootballhof.com. Archived from the original on 2016-07-21. Retrieved 2016-09-12.
- ^ "Pro Football Draft History 1997". profootballhof.com. Archived from the original on 2016-07-21. Retrieved 2016-09-12.
- ^ "New Orleans Saints History: Saints Trade Entire Draft for Ricky Williams". Canal Street Chronicles. 2014-04-17. Archived from the original on 2016-09-20. Retrieved 2016-09-12.
- ^ "Saints' Ricky Williams trade still one of most infamous in draft history". ESPN.com. 6 April 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-09-03. Retrieved 2016-09-02.
- ^ Hack, Damon (2003-04-27). "N.F.L. Draft Starts on Offense, Then Shifts to Defense". New York Times. Archived from the original on 2016-05-01. Retrieved 2016-09-12.
- ^ Jackobson, Julie (2005-04-27). "San Francisco chooses Smith with first NFL draft pick". USATODAY.com. Archived from the original on 2017-04-05. Retrieved 2016-09-12.
- ^ Ulman, Howard (2008-04-26). "Patriots draft LB Jerod Mayo from Tennessee with 10th pick". The Associated Press. Archived from the original on 2017-04-05. Retrieved 2016-09-12.
- ^ "Patriots trade 28th pick to Saints". ESPN.com. 2011-04-26. Archived from the original on 2017-04-05. Retrieved 2016-09-12.
- ^ Somers, Kent (2014-05-08). "Arizona Cardinals select safety Deone Bucannon in first round of 2014 NFL draft". The Arizona Republic. Archived from the original on 2014-05-09. Retrieved 2016-09-12.
- ^ Patra, Kevin (2015-05-01). "Saints, Seahawks agree to Jimmy Graham trade". NFL.com. Archived from the original on 2015-03-11. Retrieved 2016-09-12.
- ^ Daniels, Tim (March 10, 2017). "BRANDIN COOKS TRADED TO PATRIOTS IN DEAL INVOLVING MULTIPLE DRAFT PICKS". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on March 2, 2018. Retrieved April 28, 2017.