NFL Draft 2012 Could See New Orleans Saints in First Round After All: Fan's Opinion
NFL Draft 2012
When events like your schedule release and draft become major events, you know your sport is popular. NFL fans all over the world will be tuning in tonight to see how their teams' futures will be shaped. In all likelihood, the weakest ratings of any NFL city will probably come from New Orleans.
New Orleans Saints
As fans in the Big Easy know, the New Orleans Saints traded their first round 2012 NFL Draft pick to the New England Patriots for their 2011 first round pick. New Orleans used that first round draft pick to select Heisman winning RB Mark Ingram out of Alabama.
As everyone under the sun knows, the New Orleans Saints lost their second round 2012 NFL Draft pick to Roger Goodell. The loss of the 2012 second round pick was part of the Saints' bounty punishments handed down by the NFL. Therefore, most fans in New Orleans are rather ambivalent about the first two rounds of the 2012 NFL Draft.
Moving up?
I'll be watching the 2012 NFL Draft because Saints GM Mickey Loomis is a wizard. Loomis is a salary cap genius and despite the bounty penalties has made a number of outstanding 2012 free agent signings. Plus, in the wake of the eavesdropping nonsense, I wouldn't put it past Loomis to have a surprise up his sleeve for the 2012 NFL Draft.
Besides the aforementioned Ingram move, the Saints once moved up in the NFL Draft to select Ricky Williams. I'm certainly not proposing New Orleans trade away all its picks in the 2012 NFL Draft to move up. I'm just saying Mickey Loomis may be looking to make a statement in tonight's draft about the Saints playing to win in 2012.
Personal reflection
As a diehard, unapologetic Saints fan, I would love to see New Orleans end up getting a first round pick in the 2012 NFL Draft for one simple reason. I know how much it would aggravate all the Saints haters!
I remember reading the vitriol about Bill Parcells possibly becoming the New Orleans Saints head coach in 2012. People were mad that New Orleans would be replacing Sean Payton with a future Hall of Famer. Roger Goodell had to make a statement that the New Orleans Saints had the right to hire Parcells.
I would certainly have a very entertaining Thursday evening reading all the angry comments on the Internet if the Saints ended up with a first round pick in the 2012 NFL Draft after all. The rest of the NFL is going to have to face this simple fact whether they like it or not.
The 2012 New Orleans Saints have the best chance of playing in a Super Bowl in their hometown of any NFL team in history.
Patrick Michael lives in New Orleans and has always been a big fan of the New Orleans Saints. Patrick's favorite Saints season was 2009 when New Orleans won Super Bowl 44.
Source
"2012 NFL Draft," yahoo.com
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