Mickey Loomis Pre-Draft Press Conference Takeaways

Here's some of the biggest takeaways from Mickey Loomis' pre-draft Saints press conference.

John Hendrix | Apr 26, 2023

Mickey Loomis Pre-Draft Press Conference Takeaways /

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New Orleans Saints

Mickey Loomis did his customary pre-draft press conference ahead of the NFL Draft. He spoke for over 40 minutes, touching on a variety of topics related to the Saints and their approach. Here's some of the biggest takeaways. You can check out the full interview here.

CREDIT WHERE IT'S DUE: Loomis opened the press conference acknowledging every single member of the scouting team and praising the work they've put in. He mentioned that the scouting department talks to academic advisors, strength coaches, position coaches, trainers and many more people around the players to gather as much information as possible when they consider a draft pick. It goes beyond collegiate production and athletic testing. Coachability, being good in the community, being a good teammate, being a pro, working on your craft, recognizing strengths and weaknesses, and being willing to work on themselves were some of the things Loomis pointed out being important.

TRADING UP: Loomis admitted that the Saints don't have the ammunition to move way up, but could obviously move up. He'll start talking to more GMs today and tomorrow to found out who are going to moving back. Loomis said the philosophy behind it, saying, "Find somebody you love and go get them. If you think you can get them where you’re at, then you stay where you’re at.”"

Loomis said there was a book on his desk that had 12 years worth of trades across the NFL, and he goes over it every year to learn more about the trading trends of the league. He asks questions around if he would make that trade, or would he make that trade again. He also joked that they had eight picks, for now.

DRAFT OUTLOOK: Loomis revealed that the Saints don't remove players off of their board based on their roster strength, when asked about the scenario when they had Ryan Ramczyk and Terron Armstead. He cited drafting Deuce McAllister when they had Ricky Williams. He also talked about addressing 'musts' in this draft, to which he said, "I think there's some things we'd like to have, but wouldn't call them musts."

There are a 'normal amount, a handful' that the Saints have taken off their draft board for things like character issues and health concerns.

Loomis went into Jeff Ireland's formula on picking players some, not giving anything away, but saying that the formula shapes how many players need to be in their cloud for each pick The Saints don't start talking about their pick until three picks ahead of theirs. Loomis went into some specifics, saying that it's about a 30-minute discussion of where they are at. It's usually calm unless someone calls with a trade.

WHERE THE DRAFT IS DEEP: Tight end, cornerback, and quarterback are among the spots that Loomis said the draft was the deepest in their eyes. He also later mentioned that the defensive line was a good group.

WILL ALVIN KAMARA'S STATUS AFFECT ANYTHING? The short answer is no. Although it's an unknown, it's looked at as short-term. Loomis said this won't affect how they'll approach the next several days.

CESAR RUIZ FIFTH-YEAR OPTION: Loomis said the team has made a decision on whether or not they're picking up his fifth-year option, but would not disclose the decision today. The team has until May 1 to pick it up, and it would come to a charge north of $14 million.

FREE AGENCY APPROACH: "We have a board of the free agents at the beginning of the free agency period and we have a little note at the top of each position that says how many guys we think could how many guys in the draft could fill that position for us."

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