Saints make draft day trade, land haul in 7-round 2021 NFL Mock Draft
Round 4, Pick 126 – Davis Mills QB Stanford
The future of Saints quarterback Drew Brees is up in the air right now. On one hand, Fox’s Jay Glazer reported before the Super Bowl that the long-time Saints gunslinger was headed for retirement. Just a few weeks ago, Brees restructured his contract to significantly reduce his salary for the upcoming season, saving the club more than $20 million against the cap — another move signaling an impending retirement.
Yet, as we sit here at the beginning of March, Brees remains active. He has not announced a retirement as of yet, and I’m sure the Saints would be thrilled to have him back for another season. Whether Brees is in a Saints uniform in 2021 or not, the club needs to think about the next phase. They won’t be in a position to grab one of the presumed “franchise” quarterbacks at the top of the class. However, they might be able to land the next best thing — Stanford’s Davis Mills.
Mills doesn’t have a whole lot of film, which makes his projection difficult. However, in the small amount of film he does have, there’s a lot to like about his game. Mills seems to have everything you want from a quarterback, and simply needs a little more time to develop his game. If Brees is indeed back for one more ride, that could give Mills the time he needs before being thrust into the spotlight.
Round 4, Pick 130 – Victor Dimukeje EDGE Duke
For years, defensive end Cameron Jordan has been a force to be reckoned with on the Saints defensive line. Prior to last season, Jordan had given the Saints three straight seasons with double-digit sacks, including 15.5 sacks in 2019. Jordan’s sack total fell to just 7.5 in 2020, but Jordan’s loss was Trey Hendrickson’s gain.
Hendrickson exploded onto the scene in 2020 after pedestrian seasons in 2017 and 2019, and an injury-riddled season in 2018. In 15 games in the 2020 season, Hendrickson amassed 13.5 sacks and 25 total hits on opposing quarterbacks. Hendrickson’s breakout comes just in time for him to hit the open market and likely sign somewhere else for the 2021 season. The Saints will need to draft someone to pair with Jordan and hopefully duplicate that success.
The 2021 NFL Draft class of EDGE defenders is absolutely stacked with talent. One of the guys flying under the radar a bit in this class is Duke’s Victor Dimukeje. He doesn’t have the flash that some of the higher-end guys have, but he’s solid in both the pass rush and run defending aspects of the position. He may never have a double-digit sack season, but he can complement Jordan and give the Saints two solid bookends.
Round 5, Pick 157 – Sage Surratt WR Wake Forest
If one Surratt is good, two is better! That’s how the old saying goes, right? We’ve got the Saints picking linebacker Chazz Surratt in the third round, and now they go back to the well and take the other Surratt brother, Wake Forest wide receiver Sage.
Whether Thomas comes back to the team or not, you can never have too many pass-catching weapons in today’s NFL. Surratt provides good value in the fifth round, and would provide the Saints with yet another dependable pass catcher for Brees, Mills, or whomever the quarterback is in 2021 and beyond. Surratt isn’t the flashy prospect that some of his classmates are, but he does everything well.
Next. Mock Draft: Zach Wilson is QB2, Saints trade up for QB of future. dark
He may not have the name recognition or raw talent of his first-round predecessors, but the Saints would do well grabbing Surratt at the back end of the fifth round. The Saints are likely to be on the precipice of a rebuilding phase, but I believe this draft would go a long way towards laying a solid foundation for the post-Brees era in New Orleans.