Mar 11, 2023; Metairie, LA, USA; Detailed view of New Orleans Saints helmet at Ochsner Sports Performance Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images / Stephen Lew-Imagn Images
The New Orleans Saints are two months away from making a huge decision.
New Orleans has the No. 9 pick in the upcoming National Football League Draft. The NFL Scouting Combine will take place from Feb. 27th through March 2nd from Lucas Oil Stadium. There's going to be a lot of buzz over the next few months about the draft and it will take place from April 24th through April 26th.
The Saints will have an opportunity to add some high-end talent but it's tough to gauge what the team will do. New Orleans has some holes on both sides of the ball to worry about this offseason and not much money to go around. Kellen Moore is the team's head coach now so it will be interesting to see how he handles the draft. He's an offensive-minded head coach, but that doesn't necessarily mean he will prioritize adding offensive pieces.
It's going to be an interesting few months for New Orleans and there will be plenty of mock drafts. It'll be interesting to see what happens but Pro Football Focus' Mason Cameron made a list of "perfect" free agents and draft fits for each team. For the Saints, Cameron had Tennessee's James Pearce Jr. as the best fit for the Saints.
"Free-Agent Signing: DI Teair Tart, Los Angeles Chargers," Cameron said. "First-Round Draft Pick: EDGE James Pearce Jr., Tennessee...That lack of spending power makes this Saints' top-10 draft pick all the more important. With Chase Young slated to enter free agency, replacing him with Pearce, a twitchy edge rusher with impressive speed-to-power transition, would fill that void tremendously."
Pearce played three seasons at Tennessee and had 19.5 sacks over that stretch. He logged 7.5 in 2024 across 13 games. In 2023, Pearce had 10 sacks in 13 games. Pearce is someone who could drastically improve New Orleans' pass rush. The Saints will have a chance to add some big talent at No. 9. Maybe Pearce could be in the mix for the pick.