When in August 2013 the Saints reported to have traded the 2014 7th Round draft pick for Parys Haralson to the 49ers the reactions across the board were: well that could be a good trade, it is only a 7th round pick. I am 100% sure that most of the 49ers fans are now regretting that trade since they currently have 0 LBs on the roster. But how did it turn out for the Saints? I am paraphrasing the guys from the podcast here: “They traded the future Colston”. So let’s see, who was selected at the 7th round and how did he do.
The Saints’ 7th Round pick was traded away by the 49ers to the Denver Broncos in a package deal so the Broncos could move up in the 2nd round and draft Cody Latimer. Ladies and Gentlemen, in case you didn’t know it yet; the 2014 version of Colston is this guy. Corey Nelson, LB from Oaklahoma.
Now is he a 2014 version of Colston? No way. He is by far not as productive as Colston was in his 1st season. Though that would really be hard shoes to fill, it must be said, this guy did make the roster, is still on it, and had 17 tackles in 2014. That is 15 tackles more then SJB, Fortt and Powell have made for the Saints COMBINED.
There is little downside to Haralson. He has had 39 tackles and 6.5 sacks in 2 years and has signed a 1 year deal for 2015. So Haralson worked out pretty well though his salary is a bit higher then a rookie and he has potentially less years left.
So… was it a good trade? In my opinion, yes it definitely was! If the Saints had drafted a guy at #242 they would most likely have blown that too. So the emphasis on the potential 2014 Colston has to seen as just that, potential.
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