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The Saints have had to part with a number of veterans this offseason, but General Manager Mickey Loomis seems to be concerned with one in particular.

Loomis said he was concerned about the possibility that his trading running back Darren Sproles within the conference (to the Eagles for a fifth-round pick) could come back to haunt him.

“Anytime you’re in a good place and you’ve had success, which he’s had with us, it’s definitely painful to have the team say, ‘We don’t want you anymore,'” Loomis said, via Larry Holder of the New Orleans Times-Picayune. “But I’m not in the business of consulting players on the moves we make in management.

“But look, I’m sensitive to how personal these things are to players. I get that. I respect Darren. A lot. He’s done a lot for us. When we had the opportunity to trade him, I spoke with his representation a number of times. I wanted to put him in a place where he felt good about going, and yet I’ve got to consider the team’s best interest first.”

Loomis said he “absolutely” had reservations about sending him to a team they just saw in the playoffs.

“Look that’s our competition, but every team in the NFL is our competition at some level,” Loomis said. “When you trade him to another NFL team, which is all we can do, there’s a high likelihood you’re going to improve that team.

“And that may come back to bite you. That’s OK. I wish Darren nothing but the best. I know he’ll be successful, and we’ll be happy for that.”

Unless, of course, Sproles does bite them, and they aren’t.