The Ricky Williams trade was a trade between the New Orleans Saints and Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL), which occurred prior to the 1999 NFL draft. Mike Ditka of the Saints wanted to move up in the draft order from the twelfth overall pick to ensure that he would be able to select Ricky Williams from the University of Texas at Austin. To do so, his team traded every pick it had in the draft, plus two of its first three picks in the 2000 NFL draft, for the fifth overall pick, with which it selected Williams.
The Saints struggled in the 1999 season, and Ditka was fired. Williams played for the Saints for three seasons before he was traded to the Miami Dolphins.
Washington did not quite benefit from the trade either. While the Redskins made the 1999 playoffs, they failed to return to the postseason until 2005.