NFC South · 2027 Draft Class
New Orleans Saints 2027 NFL Draft Needs and Projected Picks
What the Saints are working with in the 2027 draft: the needs we have researched for this cycle, the capital the projected order gives them, and which prospects are projected into their range.
Where the Saints stand
The 2027 draft has not been held, so there are no picks to report and nothing here is a result. This page is the pre-draft picture: what this roster is missing, what the projected order hands them, and who is likely to be there when they are on the clock.
As the projected order stands, the Saints hold 6 selections in 2027: 1 on Day 1, 2 across Day 2 and 3 on Day 3, with 3 inside the top 100. 1 of those slots is one they do not originally own, and 2 of their own picks have gone the other way.
Projected draft capital
| Round | Overall | Origin |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 | Own pick |
| 2 | 41 | Own pick |
| 3 | 73 | Own pick |
| 4 | 105 | Own pick |
| 5 | 137 | Own pick |
| 6 | 174 | via Chargers |
Projected order. The 2027 draft order is set by the 2026 regular season and is not known until January.
Picks already traded away: No. 169 (R6, now Patriots), No. 201 (R7, now Broncos).
Roster needs entering the 2027 cycle
Our needs assessment for the Saints, ordered by priority. These are not decorative: the number beside each one is the multiplier the simulator applies to a prospect at that position when this team is on the clock, so a edge rusher prospect is genuinely harder for this team to pass on than his board rank alone implies.
Team needs were researched for this class from current rosters. They predate free agency and will be revised after March 2027.
Position rankings for their top needs: Edge Rusher, Cornerback, Defensive Tackle.
Who is projected into their range
Prospects currently projected inside the 15 picks either side of No. 9, where the Saints pick first. Restricted to positions on their needs list, ordered by how heavily that need is weighted, and capped at 3 per position so one need does not fill the table.
| Board rank | Prospect | Pos | School | Projected range | Need |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Colin Simmons | EDGE | Texas | 1-7 | need 1 |
| 5 | Dylan Stewart | EDGE | South Carolina | 3-8 | need 1 |
| 2 | Leonard Moore | CB | Notre Dame | 1-10 | need 2 |
| 17 | Ellis Robinson IV | CB | Georgia | 10-19 | need 2 |
| 26 | Zabien Brown | CB | Alabama | 13-29 | need 2 |
| 16 | David Stone | DT | Oklahoma | 8-18 | need 3 |
| 32 | A'Mauri Washington | DT | Oregon | 11-35 | need 3 |
| 22 | William Echoles | DT | Ole Miss | 15-36 | need 3 |
Rows are selected on the consensus projection. The range beside each one is where public mocks disagree: a prospect listed 20-45 is one whose projections genuinely span that much, and a wide range on a lightly-covered player reflects thin coverage rather than real volatility. Ranges are taken from published mock drafts where we have them and modelled from board position where we do not.
How this front office drafts
Mickey Loomis pairs with Kellen Moore in Moore's second season. Loomis is historically the league's most aggressive cap manipulator and a willing trader of future picks for present talent. Moore's system is pass-heavy and demands playmakers who create after the catch. With Tyler Shough having claimed the quarterback job and the receiving corps rebuilt through a top-10 pick, the 2027 priority shifts hard to defense: only one Saints defender graded above 80.0 last season, and he left in free agency.
Inside the simulator, this regime splits evenly between taking the best player available and drafting for need, and is more likely to move up the board than back down it (40 against 20). Its clearest positional preferences are edge rusher, cornerback, defensive tackle, which the engine applies on top of the needs list above.
Loomis has repeatedly pushed cap obligations forward and traded future capital to compete now, and rarely trades back. New Orleans leans SEC given its recruiting footprint. Shough nearly won Offensive Rookie of the Year and posted the 4th-lowest turnover-worthy play rate among ALL quarterbacks, which removes QB from the priority list. Demario Davis' departure to the Jets left the defense without its only 80.0-plus graded player.
What this page is not
It is not a mock draft, and it is not a prediction of what the Saints will do. Two of its three inputs will change before the draft is held: the order is set by a season that has not been played, and the needs list predates free agency, which reliably removes two or three items from every team's list and occasionally adds one. The board itself will move most of all.
We publish it anyway because the order-independent part is real and useful now. A front office's needs, its draft capital and the shape of the class it is drafting from are knowable months before the order is, and they are what actually drive a mock draft. Known gaps in the 2027 data: New York Jets general manager is unconfirmed.
More on the Saints
The New Orleans Saints franchise hub carries the current front office and every draft class we cover. The 2027 consensus big board is the full board these projections sit against.
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