Draft memories: New Orleans Saints trade 8 picks for Ricky Williams in 1999 blockbuster
The New Orleans Saints decided it was time to roll the dice. It was the moment to go all in.
And no team in NFL history went more ALL IN than the Saints on April 17, 1999.
In an unprecedented, blockbuster Draft Day shocker, New Orleans traded all six of its picks in the ‘99 draft and two selections (first and third rounds) in the 2000 draft for one Errick Lynne Williams, better known as Ricky, superstar running back out of the University of Texas.
The Saints, owners of the 12th overall pick in the first round, traded up to No. 5 in hopes that Williams would be still available. Saints executives, including head coach “Iron” Mike Ditka, were elated when the Indianapolis Colts, selecting fourth, picked another running back, some guy named Edgerrin James out of the University of Miami (Florida). James would go on to have a Hall of Fame career and win a Super Bowl in 2006 with the Colts.
Williams became … well, one of the great “What Might Have Beens” in NFL lore, but more on that later.
Players subsequently traded away to obtain Williams were: Cade McNown, D’Wayne Bates, Nate Stimson, Khari Samuel, Desmond Clark, and Billy Miller in ‘99, and LaVar Arrington and Lloyd Harrison in 2000. None of those players will have busts in Canton, but a few had solid careers. Arrington, a beast at linebacker from Penn State, played only seven seasons, but made three Pro Bowls with Washington. Selecting either Clark or Miller would have brought a decent tight end to New Orleans. In 12 seasons, Clark played in 162 games with 323 receptions and 27 touchdowns. With the Chicago Bears, Clark had four seasons in which he hauled in 40 or more catches.
Miller didn’t quite match Clark’s success, but he did log nine seasons in the league with four teams. Miller finished his career with 200 receptions for 2,248 yards and 10 TDs.
In retrospect, the Saints giving away the farm for Williams doesn’t look as bad considering none of those players turned out to be perennial All-Pros. McNown, scooped up by Chicago, was projected to finally be the Bears’ savior at quarterback. He lasted three seasons in the Windy City, compiling a dismal 3-12 record with 16 touchdown passes and 19 interceptions.
To complement McNown, the Bears nabbed Bates, a wide receiver, in the third round. Bears’ brass were probably excited Bates was still available with the 71st overall pick. They had watched him light up the turf — 3,382 yards, 210 receptions, 26 TDs — just up the road in Evanston for Northwestern. Bates never caught on in Chicago and was let go after three seasons. He logged two more seasons with the Vikings before retiring.
Ditka, heading into his third season as the Saints’ head coach, was beyond thrilled to land Williams. After the pick, he proudly puffed on a cigar and told reporters he was hitting the golf course. After back-to-back 6-10 seasons in ‘97 and ‘98, Ditka and the Saints were desperate. They knew they had to land a big fish in the ‘99 draft and Williams appeared to be the transcendent, franchise-shifting beacon of light New Orleans had yearned for since the arrival of Archie Manning in 1971.
A couple days after the monumental move to land Williams, Ditka declared the Saints were going to win the Super Bowl. He insisted the team only needed one missing piece to hit paydirt and Ricky completed the puzzle. Looking back, one can’t really blame the Saints for being enamored with Williams. He produced PlayStationesque numbers with Texas in the fall of ‘98, rushing for 2,124 yards and 28 touchdowns. Williams averaged nearly 11 yards per carry that season.
The rookie pressure on Williams had to be enormous. Sure, he had just set the NCAA Division I career rushing record and won the Heisman Trophy, but was he ready to truly be “The Man” in the Big Easy?
No. When New Orleans began the season in September the ugly truth emerged — the cupboard was bare. Under Ditka, the Saints couldn’t build momentum the previous two seasons and, considering they had no other draft picks besides Williams to forge a team upon, fell flat in ‘99. New Orleans limped to a 3-13 mark and “Iron Mike” was fired after the season.
The Saints relied too heavily on one player and the returns weren’t great. Williams missed four games in ‘99, rushing for 884 yards and two TDs. Overall, he spent three seasons in New Orleans with his best year coming in 2001: 1,245 yards, six TDs. The Saints traded away Williams to the Dolphins in 2002 and the running back enjoyed his greatest season in the pros, pounding out more than 1,800 yards with 16 TDs. His body was also taking a pounding. After leading the NFL in carries in both the 2002 and 2003 seasons, Williams abruptly retired.
Williams returned for three games in 2005 but was suspended for the entire 2006 campaign for repeated violations of the league’s substance abuse policy. Turns out, Williams was a big proponent of marijuana in helping heal both his body and his mind.
Despite all the headaches, Miami brought Williams back for one last chance in 2007. Reviled by Dolphins fans for the choices he made in previous seasons, Ricky ended his stint in South Beach on positive terms. In fact, in 2009, at age 32, Williams rushed for 1,121 yards and 11 touchdowns. In 2011, after one season with the Ravens, Williams walked away from the game for good.
Who knows if Williams could have been one of the great running backs in league history, but he might have been worthy of the Hall of Fame if he hadn’t bolted in his prime or missed a full season with a suspension. Despite the hiccups, he produced a career most running backs would take in a heartbeat: 10,009 yards and 66 TDs in 147 games.
Twenty-four years have passed since the Saints stunned football fans with their Draft Day theatrics. No other franchise has made such a gamble on one player since and it’s a deal that will likely never be repeated.