New Orleans Saints general manager Mickey Loomis isn’t fond of NFL Network reporter Ian Rapoport. The two have a history, and Rapoport recently came out with a report that must have touched a nerve.
Rapoport had a scoop on Tuesday in which he said the Saints had looked into the cost of moving up to No. 1 overall. He also said the Saints were still considering moving up into the top 10 with quarterback Paxton Lynch as a targeted player.
When Loomis was asked about it during his pre-draft press conference on Wednesday, he seemed more than a little bitter:
Loomis said absolutely had no conversations about moving up to the top of the draft. "Another miss by that reporter."
— Larry Holder (@LarryHolder) April 27, 2016
The “another miss” aspect of the statement hearkens back to a report by Rapoport after the 2015 NFL season in which he indicated Ryan Pace would be moving up in the organization while Loomis would take a step back.
Here’s what Loomis had to say about that in his end-of-season press conference: “That was that Ian Rapoport report right? I think he has about a 30 percent accuracy rate if you pay attention to things he puts out there.”
No doubt Rap Sheet isn’t sweating this, though. He’s doing his job by reporting what his sources tell him.
The idea that Loomis might be interested in moving up into the top half of Round 1 to land one of the top quarterbacks isn’t crazy, either.
Drew Brees is still one of the NFL’s top passers, but it’s not like he has an unlimited shelf life. At the age of 37, football mortality is becoming a reality Brees and the Saints cannot ignore.
Perhaps Loomis is just irritated that his secret plans saw the light of day before he could spring his draft-day master plan. After all, shortly after he slammed Rapoport, he said this, per Nick Underhill of The New Orleans Advocate: “You guys know my goal is not to give you guys any information.”
The NFL’s rumor mill is kicked into high gear with the draft literally a day away. There was no reason for Loomis to throw “that reporter” under the bus the way he did. He could have simply said “no comment” or something to that extent but chose instead to make a big deal out of it.
That type of reaction indicates there may really have been some truth to the rumor.