The New Orleans Saints have not gotten off to the best of starts this 2023 season. They're 4-4 but have seen very inconsistent play from their offense for most of the first half of the campaign. That offense began to show some signs of life on Thursday night against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 7, and those signs continued in Week 8 in the Saints' 38-27 win over the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday. New Orleans is up to 16th in the NFL in EPA per play on offense. With that said, the team is basically average on that end.
Average might be all this offense needs to be because of how good the Saints defense is. They currently rank sixth in the NFL in EPA per play allowed on defense. Only the Cleveland Browns, Baltimore Ravens, Jaguars, and Kansas City Chiefs fare better in that metric. Though the Saints' defense has been the strength of their team this season, there is an area of that unit they could stand to improve before the trade deadline on Tuesday, October 31.
Trade: New Orleans Saints trade second-round pick to Washington Commanders for Chase Young or Montez Sweat
Why the Saints do it
The Saints have to get more out of their pass rush. After racking up two sacks in Week 8, the Saints are now up to 15 sacks on the season in eight games. There is only one team in the NFL that has fewer sacks than New Orleans, and that would be the Chicago Bears who have only 10 sacks on the year. The Atlanta Falcons, Los Angeles Rams and New England Patriots are the only other teams in the league who have 15 or fewer sacks through eight games played.
Of those 15 sacks, 5.5 have come from edge rusher Carl Granderson. Defensive backs Marcus Maye and Alontae Taylor are responsible for two of those sacks. For a team that has desires to win their division and make the playoffs, that is unacceptable. They have to get more out of this unit if they want to win the NFC South, which is still very much on the table for the Saints. New Orleans is tied with the Falcons for the lead in the NFC South at 4-4, though the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are on their heels at 3-4. The Saints are also the only team in their division to have a positive point differential at this point in the division at +17.
The Saints look like the best team in their division, but they need help getting to the quarterback. In addition to those low sack numbers, the Saints rank 30th in the NFL in ESPN's pass rush win rate. Meanwhile, Washington's Chase Young ranks 11th among individual pass rushers in pass rush win rate. Montez Sweat has 6.5 sacks in eight games this 2023 and 35.5 sacks in 67 games in his career. Either would be a great addition for the Saints, who are no stranger to making win-now moves.
Why the Commanders do it
The Commanders probably can't afford both Sweat and Young. They have a lot of money already invested in their defensive front and both Young and Sweat are slated to become free agents next offseason. They can't franchise tag both of them, so one is going to be an unrestricted free agent and could leave for nothing.
The Commanders might as well get something for one of them and look to re-sign the other in the offseason. It isn't like the Commanders are looking like a playoff team or anything. They're a distant third in the NFC East behind the 7-1 Philadelphia Eagles and the 5-2 Dallas Cowboys at 3-5. They have the fifth-worst point differential on the season, behind only the Arizona Cardinals, Carolina Panthers, New England Patriots and New York Giants, who beat the Commanders a couple of weeks ago. Going the selling route and accumulating draft picks is the best move for the Commanders.
The question is, what could they fetch for either of these two? Well, the New York Giants just received a 2024 second-round pick and a 2025 fifth-round pick for Leonard Williams. Based on that, a second-round pick for either Young or Sweat makes a lot of sense. This trade would help both parties.
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