Saints have every reason to explore trade for Patriots WR N’Keal Harry

The New Orleans Saints haven’t exactly made the most of some of their first round picks, but at least no one in the Sean Payton era has requested a trade as publicly as New England Patriots first rounder N’Keal Harry. The third-year wideout’s agent filed a statement to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo on Tuesday doing just that.

And the New Orleans Saints should be interested in acquiring him. They’ve got no reason not to be. New Orleans has not replaced Emmanuel Sanders after cutting him earlier this offseason, leaving 82 targets up for grabs (plus 60 targets following Jared Cook’s release. Those passes need to go somewhere, and Adam Trautman won’t fill that vacuum on his own). Sean Payton has said his annual bit about liking the guys the team has already, but the Saints are another Michael Thomas injury away from putting Tre’Quan Smith on top of the rotation again.

Behind Smith are Deonte Harris and Marquez Callaway, who have combined for just 47 catches and 381 yards in 34 career games. Harry has outproduced both of them put together with 45 receptions for 414 yards in only 21 games. There’s reason for optimism that the entire receiving corps will benefit from a bigger-armed Taysom Hill or Jameis Winston filling in for Drew Brees, but at this point the Saints aren’t in a position to be complacent.

Maybe one of their fringe options like Juwan Johnson, Lil’Jordan Humphrey, or seventh round draft pick Kawaan Baker impresses in training camp and earns snaps early this season. Other dark horse candidates at the bottom of the depth chart include Jalen McCleskey, Easop Winston, and Jake Lampman. But Harry is either bigger, faster, or better accomplished than any of them. He wouldn’t be the first player to agitate under “The Patriot Way;” as is often around the NFL, some guys just need a change of scenery to find their potential.

The Saints didn’t own a first round selection after trading it to go get Marcus Davenport the year before, but Harry was on their radar ahead of the 2019 draft having visited New Orleans on one of their 30 official private meetings. He was an impressive combatant on contested catches and a run-after-catch threat at Arizona State but those skills haven’t translated to the NFL so far.

Still, the Saints owe it to themselves to see if Harry is available for the right price considering the thin depth of their receiving room. A comparable recent trade to look at would be last offseason’s move that sent tight end Hayden Hurst to the Atlanta Falcons — Atlanta picked up the Baltimore Ravens’ 2018 first rounder in exchange for a package of second- and fifth-round picks, receiving a fourth round selection to boot. Hurst had similar numbers in Baltimore to what Harry has put up in New England (43 catches for 512 yards in 28 games), so it’s a solid comparison, though Hurst averaged slightly fewer yards per game with the Ravens.

But you would expect a wide receiver to outproduce a tight end just based off their basic positional responsibilities. New Orleans shouldn’t give up a second rounder, much less multiple picks (though they do have the ammo: the Saints are projected to own nine selections in next year’s draft). Remember, the Saints will have at least two third rounders next year as compensation for Terry Fontenot taking the Falcons general manager job. They may even have three picks at the end of round three if Trey Hendrickson ends up qualifying, though for now he’s expected to return a fourth rounder.

Here’s a mock trade: the Saints acquire Harry and a 2022 fourth rounder (projected No. 130) in exchange for a 2022 third round compensatory pick (projected No. 105). This way neither team loses a selection, though it would mean the Saints fall out of the top 100-ish picks while New England gets a more valuable draft choice. Still, sliding down 15 to 30 slots (depending on how both teams perform this year, of course) is worth taking a shot on a first round receiver who never hit his stride when paired with an end-of-days Tom Brady, injured and inconsistent Cam Newton, and Jarrett Stidham.

Depending on how reciprocal the Patriots are to unloading Harry, they could let him go for an even simpler pick exchange like, say, a fifth rounder (which they currently don’t have after reacquiring Trent Brown in a previous trade). But it’s tough for me to see them bailing on a first round pick this quickly for such a low return. Maybe I’ll be proven wrong.

Would you sign off on that trade? Let us know in the poll below:

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