New Orleans Saints Executive Vice President/General Manager Mickey Loomis
Friday, April 23, 2010
Can you talk about the selection of Charles Brown?
"He was the best available player and the best available player for us on our board by far. We're excited to have him come in and compete. I'm excited about the upside he has as a player."
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Had you not had a lot of contact with him previously?
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"No, we didn't. We weren't expecting to take an offensive tackle early in the draft, but when it came to the pick, it was clearly the best available player to us, I think very similar in circumstance to when we took Deuce McAllister and when we took Will Smith. There really wasn't a lot of debate."
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Can you fill us in if there have been trade talks regarding Jammal Brown?
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"We've had a few conversations about Jammal and had a few conversations leading up to this draft, but there's nothing imminent and we're going to let it sort itself out. We certainly didn't draft Charles with the idea that we're moving on from Jammal. It wasn't the case at all, in fact, we like the tackles that we have. Jammal's obviously been to the Pro Bowl and although he was injured last year, we know he's a very good player. We like what Jermon Bushrod has done for us and we like what Zach Strief has done for us and obviously Jon Stinchcomb was in the Pro Bowl this year. There's nothing wrong with stockpiling offensive linemen and tackles in particular and so, that's part of our thinking here."
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IS there a chance that Charles Brown could get a good look at guard?
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"I don't think so. We envision him as a tackle and one of the things is that he's going to be a little bit of a developmental guy for us. We need to get him stronger and he's only started for two years. He came into USC as a tight end. He's athletic and that's part of the reason we think there's a big upside for him."
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Did you come into this draft looking to let things play out like you did with the previous selections of Deuce McAllister and Will Smith or have you been looking to make some deals?
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"We've been active on the phones. Just being active on the phone doesn't mean you can make a deal. I would say that's our philosophy going in, but at the same time, you want to recognize you have some needs, we have some desire to improve in our personnel and so you have to balance the two things, what your needs are, the way your board is and the grade that you have. If it's close with a group of players, then you look to the position and you evaluate a little more, but in this case, it just wasn't close for us."
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Do you look at him as a left or right tackle?
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"We envision him as a left tackle at this point. We'll see what happens."
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Was your plan to try to get up in this round when you could previously?
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"I don't know that we came into the day thinking that, but we did explore what's the cost of moving to the upper middle part of the round. What's the cost of moving to the middle and then once you get within eight or ten picks, I don't know if we want to give up any picks to move up just that few spots, dependent on the players available. We explored it and ultimately decided we didnÕt want to make a move."
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Can you discuss a report that you discussed acquiring Albert Haynesworth with the Redskins?
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"No, we never had a conversation regarding that player."
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Would you like to try to get a fifth round pick back?
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"We don't have a goal of doing that. Right now, we've got a pick coming up and obviously we have a fourth, sixth and seventh. I don't know that we look at it to wanting a fifth necessarily, although what happens is no different a year ago with (Thomas) Morstead, we got late in the draft, found somebody we really liked and traded away a future pick. IÕm not ruling that out, but at this point I donÕt have a plan sitting here today to get a fifth round pick."
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Have you had options to trade Jammal Brown before but have the offers just not been high enough?
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"I'd rather not say. We've had some discussions and we'll leave it at that."
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Is it obvious that with five tackles, you like to explore your options?
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"No, I wouldn't say it that way. I think we're going to let it sort itself out and there's nothing wrong with having depth at a position certainly."
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When you explored moving up, was that with Charles Brown in mind?
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"What happened there was we had a group of three or four players that we felt were really high and we were worried none of them would be available when it was our turn to pick. We had a contingency plan to move backwards also. One thing we need to keep in mind is we have several players that will be potential unrestricted free agents a year from now. ThatÕs always a factor when youÕre looking at the depth of your team."
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Is Jammal Brown one of those players?
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"Jammal potentially is an unrestricted free agent next year, yes."
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Is it concievable you can keep five tackles on your roster this year?
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"Sure."
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Who is your third guard right now, Tim Duckworth?
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"I think it would be. We look at Zach (Strief) as a right tackle and he's played left tackle as well. We look at him as a tackle. Again, we'll get into minicamps and training camps and we'll let that sort itself out. Obviously we're trying to keep the best players we can keep and the best offensive linemen we can keep. A year ago, our active roster we were probably one light in terms of offensive linemen and so you go back to carrying another one if the talent warrants it."
