POD Community Mock: With the 24th pick, the Saints select...

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The Saints look to protect Drew Brees in his final years with the team.

The New Orleans Saints ended their offseason drama quite quickly by re-signing Drew Brees to a two-year, $50 million deal before letting him hit the free agency market.

So with two more years of Brees in the bank, the Saints can focus their offseason plan elsewhere. In our Pride of Detroit Community Mock, it’s up to commenter “GM in exile” to live up to his name and general manage... while in quarantine. What a perfect scenario!

With the 24th pick in the POD Community Mock Draft, the Saints have selected Houston offensive tackle Josh Jones. Here’s GM in exile with the explanation.

“The New Orleans Saints are coming off of a great 2019 campaign that saw them finish at 13-3. Looking at the transition and turmoil in the division, they have to believe they can repeat as divisional champs in 2020. The truth is, the Drew Brees window is closing. Brees is a great quarterback and the Saints should be thinking about a deep playoff run.

The Saints feel stable heading into 2020 as well. The starters are fairly well set. They simply need some depth to give Sean Payton and his staff options in case of injury or in the event a starter takes a big step backwards in play. I wanted an immediate difference maker at one of the thinner positions, thinking that would help the team the most from the start of the season. The two most pro-ready wideouts were gone, and I think there will be value when the Saints pick again in the third round.

I think the same holds true for the linebackers. With Isaiah Simmons and Kenneth Murray off the board, I see the sense in being patient with this draft class (Patrick Queen is often mocked to the Saints; but I think he is a touch small for NFL blockers, all of whom are faster than the competition he saw in college). Quarterback Jordan Love is intriguing here, too.

The hope would be that a year or two holding the clipboard would prepare him and the Saints would end up with a Favre-to-Rodgers type transition. Instead, I took Jones knowing they don’t truly need him on day one. He adds depth to a line that is vulnerable to injury and should be around the club for a long time.

Catch up with all the picks from our POD Community Mock here.

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