The Cardinals would appear to hold a strong hand entering this draft, sitting at No. 4 and rostering a quarterback they like in Kyler Murray. If this draft begins QB-QB-QB as expected, Arizona could have some good offers in hand from teams eyeing the fourth passer left on the board.
A report Monday indicated the Cardinals have engaged in conversations with three teams, with a fourth on the radar. A day later, offers are believed to have come in. Two offers featuring trade parameters come in for the Cardinals’ No. 4 selection, according to CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones.
Continuing to connect the Cardinals to Ohio State super-prospect Marvin Harrison Jr., Jones notes the team appears comfortable drafting the ex-Buckeyes standout at 4. The team, however, may not view a sizable gap between the values of Harrison and LSU’s Malik Nabers as prospects. Citing the Cardinals’ wide receiver connections and this narrow gap, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport does not anticipate the team trading back too far.
Moving too far down the board would slide Arizona out of the mix for a prime wideout prospect; this could conceivably impact the team’s thinking with regards to potential Vikings or Broncos offers, seeing as those teams hold the Nos. 11 and 12 picks. Conversely, the Cardinals’ interest in this draft’s wideout crop could play into the Giants’ hands. New York sits at No. 6. If the Cardinals trade down two spots with a team interested in drafting a passer at 4, they would still have either Harrison or Nabers available to them at 6.
Both players visited the Cardinals, and reports during the draft run-up have suggested some teams view Nabers — who trailed Harrison on prospect ranking lists for a while — as the better prospect. The two-year Jayden Daniels target clocked a 4.35-second 40-yard dash time at the LSU pro day. Despite not doing drills at this event or at the Combine, Nabers has done nothing to lower his stock going into the draft. The Cardinals have a glaring hole at wide receiver, though if the Vikings or Broncos come in with a much stronger offer compared to the Giants, that would stand to put Monti Ossenfort to the test.
Last year’s Cardinals decision to slide from No. 3 to No. 12 and then out of No. 33 showed Ossenfort is perfectly fine moving down boards. Of course, Arizona climbed back up to No. 6 (for Paris Johnson) last year. Some teams wonder if the Cardinals could both move outside the top 10 and make a similar move by climbing…