It looks like the Eagles and Saints have traded their first-round picks for this year’s draft in the NFL. The Eagles traded two top-20 picks — No. 16 and No. 19. In exchange for the 18th pick overall, they also gave their 6th-round pick, No. 194 overall, to the Saints, as well as a 2024 2nd-round pick, a 2023 1st-round pick, and two additional picks related to this year’s draft, No. 101 overall for a late 3rd-round pick and No. 237 overall for the 7th round.

The Saints Have Seven Scheduled Picks for This Year’s NFL Draft

These trades give New Orleans two first-round picks while Philadelphia holds multiple first-round picks. New Orleans also has Dennis Allen as their new head coach heading into the 2022 season. Currently, the Eagles have ten selections for this year’s NFL Draft, and the Saints have seven scheduled picks. This is the first time since 1973 for the Eagles to have two top-20 picks. Back in 1973, they drafted tight end Charle Young No. 6 overall and offensive tackle Jerry Sisemore No. 3 overall, and both players became multiple Pro Bowlers with the Eagles.

The Saints Have Signed Taco Charlton, the No. 28 In the 2017 NFL Draft

Recently, the Saints also announced that they signed defensive end Taco Charlton, who was with the Steelers last season. Charlton, who is now 27 years old, was the No. 28 overall in the 2017 NFL Draft. Back then, he was selected by the Cowboys and later spent time with the Chiefs and Dolphins, getting to 11.5 sacks in his career so far.

Obviously, things can still change, but so far, players like C.J. Stroud, Bryce Young, and Anthony Richardson are considered potential top-10 picks for the next year’s season. Had the Eagles stayed at 15, 16, and 19, they could have been the seventh NFL team since 1960 to get to draft three top 20 players. The last team that did that was the Jets, and that was way back in 2000.

The NBA season is on the verge of resuming, and it has been revealed that the first exhibition games could be played in 10-minute quarters. Nothing about the NBA is going to feel familiar when play resumes on the court, and this proposed move is looking like yet another change.

Life Inside the Bubble

The 22 teams reporting back for NBA duty will do so in the bubble of Orlando, Florida. The NBA has decided to help ease players back by letting them play their first exhibition games using 10-minute quarters.

It seems like a good plan as the players haven’t seen regular action on the basketball court in four months. The players of the 22 teams that head to Florida will have to commit to living inside the ‘bubble’ created by the NBA for the remainder of the season.

Stepping Things Up

Once the first round of exhibition games are out of the way, the remaining ‘friendly’ fixtures will be played with the regular 12-minute quarters. The exhibition schedule will be played until June 28, with the regular season resuming on July 30. The remaining 22 teams will each play eight games to close out the regular NBA season, and the playoffs will resume as normal in the postseason.

The only difference will be that the ninth seeds will be given the opportunity to reach the playoffs if they are just four games back from the eighth seed. Teams that qualify for the ‘playoff playoff’ as the ninth seed will have to win two games against the eighth seed, while the higher-ranking team will only need to win once.

The 10-minute quarters may help the NBA stars start their engines at a slower pace rather than going at 100mph right out of the blocks. We’ll only know for sure when the teams take to the court in the coming weeks if the strategy was a smart one or not.