Packers’ second first-round draft pick in 2019 set at #30 overall after Saints’ loss to Rams

Green Bay Packers fans have been cheering against the New Orleans Saints all year long. Each Saints loss was a gain for the Packers, who acquired New Orleans’ first-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft on day one of the 2018 selection meeting.

Those efforts did not go well, however, as the Saints finished 13-3 in the regular season, posting the best record in the entire NFL. A victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in the divisional round of the playoffs sent them to the NFC Championship Game. However, on Sunday afternoon, the Saints finally fell, losing to the Los Angeles Rams 26-23 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Greg Zuerlein’s 57-yard field goal in overtime sent the Rams to the Super Bowl and ended the Saints’ season.

The loss locks New Orleans’ first-round draft pick in at the #30 overall slot. That slot belongs to whichever losing team in the Conference Championship round has the better record; although the Chiefs-Patriots game is just getting underway as of publishing of this article, both teams had an inferior record this season.

Thus, the Packers now hold picks number 12 and 30 overall in round one, which would be the first time since 2009 that they would pick twice in the draft’s first round. The Packers also have picks 44 (round two) and 75 (round three).

The trade that sent the Saints’ pick to Green Bay came on the first day of the 2018 NFL Draft, with New Orleans trading up from 28 to the Packers’ 14th pick by sending a fifth-round pick in 2018 and their first-rounder in 2019. Green Bay then traded back up to the 18th overall selection, picking Louisville cornerback Jaire Alexander.