New Orleans acquired running back Vince Clements from the New…
New Orleans acquired running back Vince Clements from the New York Giants on August 22, 1974 for a conditional 1975 draft choice. The transaction ledger indicates that the pick was not exercised, and Clements was released by the Saints eight days later after failing a physical. He never appeared in a regular-season game for New Orleans, leaving neither side with verified post-trade NFL field value.
New Orleans Saints Received
New York Giants Received
- pick 1975 conditional draft pick (not exercised)
Trade Analysis
The August 22, 1974 transaction can be deconflated into one player and one conditional draft asset. Pro Sports Transactions records the Giants sending Vince Clements, also listed as Vin Clements, to New Orleans for a 1975 draft pick with a notation that the selection was not exercised. That source also records the Saints releasing Clements on August 30 after he failed a physical. Those entries support a simple conditional player-for-pick structure and do not support the duplicate undisclosed-consideration placeholders or the repeated Clements entries carried in the legacy row.
Clements had legitimate NFL production before the trade, which helps explain why New Orleans took the chance. The Giants' official 1973 statistics credit him with 57 rushing attempts for 214 yards and a touchdown plus 15 receptions for 129 yards and another score that season. New York's later all-time roster records him with the club in 1972 and 1973. His post-trade value to the Saints was different: because he failed the physical and was released before the regular season, he produced no regular-season appearance, start, rushing yard or receiving yard for New Orleans. His prior Giants production should not be carried forward as Saints value.
The Giants' return also appears to have produced no realized draft value. The public transaction ledger describes the consideration as a 1975 draft choice and flags it as not exercised, which is consistent with a conditional asset that never conveyed after Clements failed the physical. The exact contractual trigger is not available in the sources used here, so the record should avoid claiming a specific condition such as games played, roster status or physical passage. What can be said is that no identifiable 1975 Giants selection is tied to this transaction in the surviving ledger.
The appropriate hindsight result is therefore an Even Trade with matching C- grades. New Orleans acquired a player who did not survive the physical process and never reached a regular-season game, while New York's conditional draft return appears not to have been exercised. Neither side realized measurable post-trade NFL production or an identifiable completed draft selection. Confidence is medium rather than high because the transaction and failed physical are documented, but the precise language of the conditional-pick clause is not.