How Saints lost out on a draft pick haul due to Jets' blockbuster Sauce Gardner trade

The New Orleans Saints, at 1-8, could've been major sellers at the NFL trade deadline. While they did trade Rashid Shaheed and Trevor Penning, there were a few others who could've been on the move.

While Chris Olave and Alvin Kamara drew the most attention, the Saints' best remaining trade chip was likely cornerback Alontae Taylor.

As Jeremy Fowler of ESPN revealed in a recent report, the Saints almost had a chance to trade him. Instead, the New York Jets pulled off a blockbuster trade to shut down the Saints' best chance of landing draft capital for Taylor.

How the Saints lost on draft pick compensation due to the Jets' Sauce Gardner blockbuster trade

The Jets traded Gardner to the Indianapolis Colts for two first-round picks and Adonai Mitchell in a stunning blockbuster trade. But if the Colts couldn't land Gardner, Taylor was one of their contingency plans.

"One possibility was Saints cornerback Alontae Taylor," Fowler reports. "The colters were in the mix on him. One team in the CB market said the Saints were looking for an early Day 3 pick for Taylor, who is a free agent after this season."

New Orleans had set an early day-three pick for Taylor, which would've fallen in round four or five of the NFL Draft. With Taylor set to be a free agent, the Saints' landing guaranteed draft capital would've been huge.

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What makes this missed opportunity hurt even more is that Fowler reports, "If the Gardner deal fell through, I believe there was a decent chance Taylor would have been a Colt..."

Fowler believes that if the Jets didn't trade Gardner, the Saints would've been able to trade Taylor to the Colts instead, landing an early day-three pick.

This trade was a huge one for the Colts and Jets for obvious reasons, but it's also had instant and long-lasting effects on the Saints.

2025 is a lost year for the Saints as they reevaluate the future of the franchise. Landing extra draft capital would've been a nice plus, but the Jets' blockbuster trade stopped the Saints' best chance of making such a deal work.

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