TEMPE, Ariz. – To trade or not to trade: For the Arizona Cardinals who are third in this year’s NFL Draft, that is the question.
Until the first round kicks off on April 27 (8 p.m. ET on ESPN, ABC, and the ESPN App), the Cardinals will consider whether they should stick to third place or enjoy any of the six calls (so far) they’ve received from teams interested in being traded. .
It all depends on who is asked, but the argument can be made for both options: stay with the best prospect or accumulate more selections to help start a list rebuild. Arizona kicked off the offseason with 30 indoor free agents. They returned nine of them and added 11 new free agents.
The Cardinals’ newfound confidence to coach Jonathan Gannon and general manager Monty Osenfurt talks daily about their third-choice options, and those conversations have left Gannon feeling “good” about the team’s mentality.
That includes going down, possibly dramatically, which Gannon said he’s “sure” with.
“We’ve talked through the pros and cons of that, but I feel very confident with two different plans [Ossenfort] Developed. “And I’m behind him 100 percent, and I know he’s going to do everything he can in his role to help our group win,” Gannon said.
Former NFL general manager and CEO Mike Tannenbaum, now an ESPN analyst, says Arizona should trade in and stock future draft picks. He doesn’t think the Cardinals, coming off a 4-13 season, are a player or two away from turning themselves into a contender. Getting as much trial capital as possible could come in handy in 2024 when Tannenbaum said Arizona might want some sort of “Kyler Murray insurance” in case the new system wants to go in a different direction than the current quarterback.
A front office source from another team said she was more forthright.
“If I’m one of them, you’re trying like hell to trade him,” said the source. “But if you leave there you can at least get by, [Alabama linebacker] Will Anderson And you have a defensive piece – like a productive young player who can be the cornerstone of defence.”
Anderson has had 27.5 sacks over the past two years for the Crimson Tide. The Cardinals lost their two sacked captains from last season in JJ Watt (retired) and Zach Allen (free agency).
“I don’t know what’s best: trade him or get him because I find it hard to think that unless he trades Indy to stop someone else from jumping on them for the quarterback, I don’t know if anyone is going to jump to draft one of those quarterbacks at No. 3, said the source.
The assumption is that quarterback CJ Stroud And Bryce Young She will be taken with the first two picks to the Carolina Panthers and Houston Texans. If the Indianapolis Colts want to move up one spot from No. 4 for a favored QB, Tannenbaum believes the third pick deserves two second-round picks plus a first-round pick swap. Tannenbaum may want to get a “premium pick” in 2024 to secure a quarterback. The front office source believes the Cardinals can get a second-round pick next year and a fourth-round pick this year.
Beyond Tannenbaum he wanted to run back, if he were shooting the Cardinals, it would be No. 5 because he believes the four teams ahead of them will likely be looking for quarterbacks.
ESPN draft analyst Matt Miller believes Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson has helped increase the value of the Cardinals’ third-place pick.
“I think there’s a lot of pressure on teams…to slip,” said Miller. “I think Arizona is in a great place to say, Either, we’re going to pick the best defender in this class,” whoever thinks so, or, “we can trade a little bit.”
That could leave Arizona with Anderson, who is widely considered the best defensive player in the draft.
“He’s a good player,” Gannon said of Anderson. “There’s a lot of good guys out there. I don’t really look at the value of the guy as much as you’re going to pick him, when do you want him? I kind of looked like, ‘Hey, do we want this guy? Can he help us win? Does he have the right kind of personality and can he help us?’ Basically winning?
“That’s kind of a bucket you put in and then Monty takes care of the rest.”
Aside from Anderson, Tannenbaum believes the Illinois cornerback Devon Witherspoon and an Oregon cornerback Christian Gonzalez He can also play in the top five. The Cardinals lost their top cornerback, Byron Murphy Jr., in free agency. ESPN draft analyst Todd McShea said Witherspoon is the most complete player in the draft.
If the Cardinals are going to deliberate the selection, why haven’t they done so yet?
It may be because the teams are still in the information-gathering phase, albeit on a home scale. Take Georgia defensive tackle Jalen Carter, for example. Tannenbaum said that depending on talent, he could be in conversation to pick a top 5 player. But Carter did not contest misdemeanor charges of reckless driving and racing last month in connection with a fatal crash in January. He was also unable to finish his position drills and did not participate in other drills on his pro day after appearing nine pounds heavier than he was in the NFL.
Teams will continue to mark Carter until the start of the first inning, and that could play into the Cardinals’ hands.
“You never really know what’s going to happen there and that could affect how the team sees the value of that pick,” Tannenbaum said of the Cardinals’ third.
With Gannon and Ossenfort still meeting daily, offers for third choice would continue to come in.
And they will continue to discuss what to do: stay put or come down.
“The only thing you hate doing in the draft is going after a position,” said the front office source. “It’s like there’s drafting as needed, but when you’re drafting in the top 10, you’re drafting the MVP.”