There is a lot to like until you notice edge rusher is still a hole. The Saints never got to the one that mattered most. It washes out to a C+, no better and no worse.

The trades cost them a sliver of value they did not need to spend. Interior defensive lineman is handled and the depth chart looks a good deal healthier for it.

Building through the lines is a philosophy, and they stuck to it.

If Walter Nolen and a couple of the gambles land, hindsight will be kinder than this grade.