Saints' Jeff Ireland has no set philosophy with regards to trading up in draft

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MOBILE, Ala. -- The New Orleans Saints have been among the most aggressive teams in terms of trading up in the draft in under general manager Mickey Loomis, making notable recent first-round moves to pick Brandin Cooks in 2014 and Mark Ingram in 2011.

Assistant GM Jeff Ireland, though, has provided a bit of a calming influence the past couple years as the Saints have gone through the draft process.

In 2015, Ireland's first year with the team, New Orleans made nine selections in the draft, the most players the Saints had taken since 2002 when they also took nine. The team picked up extra picks in 2015 in player trades that also landed center Max Unger and linebacker Dannell Ellerbe.

"In the first draft, I had the calming voice to not go and go and go because there's other players behind them that may not be that big of a difference, so we just sit and wait," Ireland said Thursday at the Senior Bowl.

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But, in 2016, the Saints returned to their aggressive pursuit in the draft, trading up twice to select safety Vonn Bell in the second round and defensive tackle David Onyemata in the fourth. As a result, New Orleans made just five picks last year, and the trade up for Onyemata cost the Saints their fifth-round pick for 2017.

"It just depends on where you have those players graded, what's behind them, and sometimes you have to go get them," Ireland said. "And that was the case last year."

So, heading into this year's draft, the Saints currently have six selections, one in every round except the fifth. New Orleans could obviously make deals before or during the draft that changes their amount of picks, but Ireland said the team has no set practice for how to approach the draft.

"I think it depends on how the board falls," he said. "You just kind of have to pay attention to the players that are still available for you and what players are below them and how are you going to acquire those players."

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