List of New Orleans Saints first-round draft picks

The New Orleans Saints joined the National Football League (NFL) as an expansion team in 1967 and first participated in the 1967 NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting, more commonly known as the NFL draft. In the NFL Draft, each NFL franchise annually seeks to add new players to its roster. Teams are ranked in inverse order based on the previous season's record, with the worst record picking first, and the second-worst picking second and so on. The team which wins the Super Bowl receives the last pick in the subsequent Draft, with the penultimate pick going to the losing team. Teams have the option of trading away their picks to other teams for different picks, players, cash, or a combination thereof. Thus, it is not uncommon for a team's actual draft pick to differ from their assigned draft pick, or for a team to have extra or no draft picks in any round due to these trades.

In the 1967 NFL Draft, the Saints had two first-round picks; first and last. They traded away the first overall pick to the Baltimore Colts, while with the 26th pick, they selected Leslie Kelley, a running back from Alabama. The Saints have selected first overall once, drafting George Rogers in 1981, second overall twice, drafting Archie Manning in 1971 and Reggie Bush in 2006, and third overall once, drafting Wes Chandler in 1978. The team's most recent first-round selection was offensive tackle Kelvin Banks Jr. in 2025 NFL draft.

Player selections

Year	Pick	Player name	Position	College	Notes
1967			Running back	Alabama
1968			Defensive end	Notre Dame
1969			Guard	Xavier
1970		†	Wide receiver	Texas Southern
1971		†	Quarterback	Mississippi
1972			Guard	Georgia
1973	—	— No pick	—	—
1974			Linebacker	Ohio State
1975		Larry Burton	Wide receiver	Purdue
1975			Offensive tackle	Ohio State
1976		†	Running back	California
1977			Defensive end	Maryland
1978		†	Wide receiver	Florida
1979			Placekicker	Texas
1980			Offensive tackle	Colorado
1981		*†	Running back	South Carolina
1982			Wide receiver	Georgia
1983	—	— No pick	—	—
1984	—	— No pick	—	—
1985			Linebacker	Tennessee
1986			Offensive tackle	Virginia
1987			Defensive tackle	Brigham Young
1988		†	Running back	Pittsburgh
1989		†	Defensive end	Arkansas
1990		†	Defensive end	West Virginia
1991	—	— No pick	—	—
1992			Running back	Indiana
1993		^	Offensive tackle	Louisiana Tech
1993			Tight end	Notre Dame
1994		†	Defensive end	Louisville
1995			Linebacker	Washington State
1996			Defensive back	Oregon
1997			Guard	Colorado
1998		†	Offensive tackle	San Diego State
1999		†	Running back	Texas
2000	—	— No pick	—	—	{{efn
2001		†	Running back	Mississippi
2002			Wide receiver	Tennessee
2002			Defensive end	Georgia
2003			Defensive tackle	Georgia
2004		†	Defensive end	Ohio State
2005		†	Offensive tackle	Oklahoma
2006			Running back	Southern California
2007			Wide receiver	Tennessee
2008			Defensive tackle	Southern California
2009		†	Defensive back	Ohio State
2010			Cornerback	Florida State
2011		†	Defensive end	California
2011		†	Running back	Alabama
2012	—	— No pick	—	—
2013			Strong safety	Texas
2014			Wide receiver	Oregon State
2015			Offensive tackle	Stanford
2015			Linebacker	Clemson
2016			Defensive tackle	Louisville
2017			Cornerback	Ohio State
2017			Offensive tackle	Wisconsin
2018			Defensive end	UTSA
2019	—	— No pick	—	—
2020			Center	Michigan
2021			Defensive end	Houston
2022			Wide receiver	Ohio State
2022			Offensive tackle	Northern Iowa
2023			Defensive tackle	Clemson
2024			Offensive tackle	Oregon State
2025			Offensive tackle	Texas