We know that the New Orleans Saints are now scheduled to make two picks in the 2022 NFL draft’s first round after trading with the Philadelphia Eagles, but what sort of history do they have with those specific draft slots (Nos. 16 and 19)? The last time that New Orleans was on the clock in their old spot at No. 18, they picked an iconic defender in the late Will Smith. Does their track record with these two other spots hold up?
The Saints have never picked at No. 16 overall — it’s one of the few slots that New Orleans has never fallen into during the first round, along with Nos. 4, 9, and 22. But the Saints have picked at No. 19 once before, and they came away with one of the greatest pass rushers in team history: defensive end Wayne Martin.
Martin finished his Saints career with 82.5 sacks, which trailed only Pro Football Hall of Famer Rickey Jackson (who had 115 official sacks as a Saint) in the team record books. He’s since been bumped down to third by ironman defensive end Cameron Jordan, who is rapidly gaining on Jackson’s all-time lead (with 107 sacks of his own).
