New Orleans Saints to Pick Ninth Overall in 2025 NFL Draft

The 2024 season is mercifully over for New Orleans Saints fans after the team made a valiant effort but fell yesterday to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers by a final of 27-19.

With the loss, the Black & Gold finished the season with a 5-12 record.

The record put the team in a tie for last place in the NFC South with the Carolina Panthers. (Due to "tiebreakers," the Saints officially finished fourth in the division.)

Heading into yesterday's game, the Saints were set to pick tenth overall in the 2025 NFL Draft. But, with the loss, the team moved up one spot, giving them the ninth pick in the upcoming draft.

Four teams finished with 5-12 records. The deciding factor for determining the order in this case is strength of schedule. The weakest strength of schedule picks the highest.

The 2025 NFL Draft will be held April 24-26 in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Here is the draft order of non-playoff teams and their 2024 records:

1. Tennessee Titans (3-14, .522 strength of schedule)
2. Cleveland Browns (3-14, .536 strength of schedule)
3. New York Giants (3-14, .554 strength of schedule)
4. New England Patriots (4-13, .471 strength of schedule)
5. Jacksonville Jaguars (4-13, .478 strength of schedule)
6. Las Vegas Raiders (4-13, .540 strength of schedule)
7. New York Jets (5-12, .495 strength of schedule)
8. Carolina Panthers (5-12, .498 strength of schedule)
9. New Orleans Saints (5-12, .505 strength of schedule)
10. Chicago Bears (5-12, .554 strength of schedule)
11. San Francisco 49ers (6-11, .564 strength of schedule)
12. Dallas Cowboys (7-10, .522 strength of schedule)
13. Miami Dolphins (8-9, .419 strength of schedule)
14. Indianapolis Colts (8-9, .457 strength of schedule)
15. Atlanta Falcons (8-9, .519 strength of schedule)
16. Arizona Cardinals (8-9, .536 strength of schedule)
17. Cincinnati Bengals (9-8, .478 strength of schedule)
18. Seattle Seahawks (10-7, .498 strength of schedule)

The New Orleans Saints have a total of eight draft picks in the upcoming draft.

The team made a big trade during the season that sent cornerback Marshon Lattimore to the Washington Commanders in exchange for a third-round pick, a fourth-round pick, and the return of their sixth-round pick.

Before the season, New Orleans traded its fifth-round selection to the Commanders for defensive tackle John Ridgeway III and a 2025 sixth-round pick.

The Saints' original seventh-round pick was part of the trade that sent defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson to the Philadelphia Eagles. In return for Gardner-Johnson and a 2025 seventh-rounder, the Saints received a 2023 fifth-rounder and a 2024 sixth-rounder.

If the team keeps all its picks this year, it would be the first time since the 2015 NFL Draft that the Saints have used more than seven picks.

Here is the complete list of picks in the 2025 NFL Draft for the New Orleans Saints:

• Round 1 (#9 overall)
• Round 2
• Round 3
• Round 3 (from WAS)
• Round 4
• Round 4 (from WAS)
• Round 6
• Round 6 (from WAS)