Not all third-round picks are equal. That’s something the New Orleans Saints will be learning the hard way after general manager Mickey Loomis missed a crucial detail in trade talks with the Washington Commanders.
Four-time Pro Bowl cornerback Marshon Lattimore was traded to Washington in a deal that brought back multiple draft picks. But the linchpin of the Commanders’ trade package was the third-round pick. Washington owned two third-round picks, and Loomis took the worst one.
Instead of getting Washington’s third-round choice from the Miami Dolphins, projected at No. 72 overall, Loomis picked the Commanders’ own third rounder, which is projected at No. 93. Maybe the Dolphins will get healthy and go on a tear through the back half of the season, and the Commanders will fall off, which would switch their positions. But that isn’t likely, and a 21-slot swing is massive.
According to the draft pick value chart Jimmy Johnson created, which has since been updated and is still used as the basis for NFL teams today, the difference between picks at No. 72 and 93 would be worth 97 points. That’s far more than the value in the other picks the Saints got back; the fourth rounder (projected at No. 131) and sixth-round pick (No. 181) total just 60 points. So the Commanders come out ahead even before you consider the Saints threw in a fifth rounder at No. 144, which is worth another 34 points.
Tally all that up and the Commanders traded 188 points of draft pick value to acquire Lattimore and 34 points. That’s good work by them, which shows Loomis has room for improvement. That isn’t what you want to write about the NFL’s longest-tenured general manager but he’s gotten fleeced in trades before. Loomis probably views the multiple at-bats with those later picks as being worth more than a higher choice in an earlier round, but if his track record is anything to go by, his in-house trade value chart probably needs revising.
