The New Orleans Saints have had an eventful 12 months, kickstarting a series of bold moves to contend for a Super Bowl as early as last year’s draft. It’s featured trades to land a high-upside pass rusher (Marcus Davenport), starting-quality center (Erik McCoy) and a defensive back who might crack the starting lineup sooner than later (Chauncey Gardner-Johnson).

New Orleans also traded more picks to bring in backup (and maybe quarterback of the future) Teddy Bridgewater, and a starting cornerback in Eli Apple. The moves continued with free agent upgrades (linebacker Demario Davis and tight end Jared Cook). The Saints have clearly bet it all on winning a title as soon as possible.

So it’s no surprise that the Saints are the team at the forefront of many media analysts’ minds when it comes to guessing the next blockbuster move. When speculating on The Ringer NFL Show, hosts Robert Mays and Kevin Clark drew up the dream offseason move they’d most love to see: the Saints trading to pair Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green with New Orleans superstar Michael Thomas.

“This would be the type of move that lends itself to (the Saints going all-in on winning a Super Bowl this year),” said Clark. “A.J. Green has been sort of – there hasn’t been a full-fledged ‘A.J. Green is on the (trade) block rumor’ but any time you hear ‘who could be next,’ especially after the Odell Beckham trade and the Antonio Brown trade, it was ‘who could be next,’ you sort of hear A.J. Green’s name floating around there. I think that would be amazing.”

Mays replied, taking the Bengals’ perspective in this scenario. “(It’s the) last year of A.J. Green’s contract. I’d say probably, more likely than not, the last year of Andy Dalton’s tenure as the starter in Cincinnati. If you’re going to do a full-scale rebuild, wouldn’t the picks for A.J. Green be a significant part of that? You could also argue that if you’re going to draft a quarterback, you would want to put that guy in an offense with A.J. Green, but do they want to give a 31-year-old A.J. Green a huge contract after this season ends?”

The Bengals finally moved on from longtime head coach Marvin Lewis, hiring former Los Angeles Rams quarterbacks coach Zac Taylor for the position earlier this year. It signals the end of the Dalton-Green union, an eight-year stint in which Green reached seven Pro Bowls while averaging 14.8 yards per reception, 80.2 yards per game, and caught 63 touchdown passes with a catch rate of 58.7 percent. And, again, with Dalton throwing ducks at him all day.

Clark rounded back to the Saints: “I don’t think it’s that nuts. The Saints currently have $8.8 million in cap space, A.J. Green has a base salary of about $11 million. That’s child’s play for the Saints. They find $3 million in cap space in the couch every day. So don’t worry about that. The money is not a problem whatsoever. It’s all about motivation and ‘do you want to give up what you need to give up’ to put him in your offense?”

From a financial perspective, any team that trades for Green will take on a salary cap hit slightly over $12.17 million. That would rank fourth-highest on the Saints as things stand, behind Drew Brees ($22.7 million), Terron Armstead (over $15.81 million) and Cameron Jordan (about $14.04 million). Restructures are possible for each of those players, creating the cap space needed to add Green or anyone else.

As for what the Saints would need to give up in a trade, it’s tough to point to any recent deal as a solid barometer. Antonio Brown, who turns 31 in June, was shipped to the Oakland Raiders in exchange for third- and fifth-round picks. But his relationship with the Pittsburgh Steelers was severely fractured and they clearly wanted him gone.

Other receivers traded recently were either much younger than Green, under contract on long-term deals, or both. The Cleveland Browns pried away 26-year-old Odell Beckham Jr. for first- and third-round picks, as well as a defensive starter (Jabrill Peppers). He’s signed for the next five years. Amari Cooper, 25 in June, was traded to the Dallas Cowboys for a first-round pick but he’ll soon be a free agent.

So, hypothetically, here’s a potential deal: The Saints get Green, the Bengals get next year’s third- and fourth-round picks. The Saints can either choose to re-sign Green after the season (he and Michael Thomas will both be free agents, making it a tough call) or let him walk and maybe recoup that pick as a compensatory selection the following year.

The Saints would give up more than the Raiders did to land Brown, but not as much as other teams spent to get younger players with less mileage and lesser injury history. It checks out.

But let’s be real. The Bengals aren’t trading Green, especially while Dalton is their best option at quarterback. He needs all the help he can get. And they almost certainly wouldn’t accept less than a first-round pick for him, which the Saints would be reluctant to part with.

That said, crazier things have happened. Back in 2010, the New England Patriots traded Randy Moss, then 32, and a seventh-round pick to the Minnesota Vikings for a third-round selection. There’s some precedent here, but not much.

And if the Saints were able to land Green and win a Super Bowl, nobody would care — much less remember — the details of what they gave up to get him. All that matters is winning another Lombardi Trophy with Drew Brees at the helm.