You can lose a draft before you make a pick. The Saints did it at the trade table, overpaying to chase players the board did not price nearly as high. A weekend of give and take that grades a C+.

For all the activity, running back went untouched, which is hard to explain. That Mustapha pick is the receipt they will wave around later. The roster is better shaped than it was, with edge rusher chief among the fixes.

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

In the end, a coin-flip class: fine today, with a wide range of outcomes ahead.