Buy/Sell Cardinals Rumors on DeAndre Hopkins, NFL Draft and Uniforms
PHOENIX -- The entire NFL world is here at the Biltmore Resort to gather for the league's annual meeting, where decisions are made between NFL owners and general managers/coaches alike come to mingle and speak with media during the first two days here in the desert. The Arizona Cardinals don't have to travel very far from their home in Tempe.
There's smoke and mirrors surrounding some of the biggest names on the market. All eyes are on the New York Jets and Green Bay Packers to strike a deal for QB Aaron Rodgers. Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson announced he requested a trade right as HC John Harbaugh was speaking with reporters, which caused quite the stir in the room once everyone saw the news on Twitter.
Though maybe not front page at the moment, the Cardinals still have plenty to discuss and sort through themselves. It's been a rather quiet free agent period and the NFL draft still leaves plenty of unknown as we approach the end of March.
Mere hours from now, Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon will be meeting with reporters to discuss on the very topics we're about to hit on. Though no wild revelations will be made after our talk with JG, let's take our best guess on buying/selling some rumors surrounding Arizona:
Buy/Sell Cardinals Rumors on DeAndre Hopkins, NFL Draft and More
Buy or Sell: The Cardinals will dramatically settle on their price tag for DeAndre Hopkins
Well... define dramatically.
There's reports the Cardinals are asking for a second-round pick and something else of value for Hopkins - who has proved to be one of the best receivers when on the field and healthy.
Yet his ability to prove just that (staying on the field) mixed with his age and contract have made it quite hard for Arizona to get any bites with that price tag.
The Dallas Cowboys' recent acquisition of Brandin Cooks for a fifth and sixth-round pick has some believing the Cardinals will have to settle right around that compensation to offload Hopkins.
Which sounds ridiculous, because no offense to Cooks, but the two are on entirely different levels as a pass-catcher. It feels like selling Hopkins - when you know there's still legitimate gas left in the tank - for that price would be dismal.
That's what makes that logic somewhat unreasonable, but the reality of the situation is Arizona fans may be surprised on what the Cardinals will have to part with.
Though perhaps not to drastic levels, I'm buying that Arizona will sell Hopkins for less than what they want to give him away for.
Buy or Sell: There's a possibility the Cardinals could hang on to Hopkins until the regular season and deal him near the trade deadline
Sell. Sell sell sell.
The Cardinals are in no position to slow play this. Hopkins is only getting older and they're looking for draft assets to help them rebuild sooner rather than later. I will concede that Arizona (in a perfect world) would get more for Hopkins during the regular season than now, but this isn't Madden.
Teams know this and are willing to wait things out: It's a game of chicken as the Cardinals get close to the buzzer of the 2023 NFL Draft.
Hopkins sticking around doesn't bode well for anybody in this situation. The latest report announcing Arizona would allow teams to speak with Hopkins and his representatives further implies they're trying to get a deal done soon.
Sell.
Buy or Sell: The Cardinals will trade down from No. 3 no matter who is available
I'll inject my own personal opinion here before I answer this question: I personally wouldn't pass on Will Anderson, even if that means not trading back. I'm just a dude typing on a laptop with no consequences for my takes or thoughts, and I'm definitely not privy to conversations surrounding Arizona's thoughts on Anderson.
However, it makes too much sense for the Cardinals to trade down.
General manager Monti Ossenfort is inheriting a squad that is entering a rebuild and has holes across the roster. There's no wrong pick for Arizona in the first round, as long as they draft somebody other than an off-ball linebacker (looking at you, Steve Keim).
Operating under the heavy, heavy assumption that two quarterbacks go off the board before Arizona is on the clock, the Cardinals will hold the keys to the potential of a franchise quarterback for a handful of other teams to bid on.
Case in point: There's plenty of draft capital to gain from trading down, which results in more premium chances to add young, quality players to the roster. General manager's will always exchange one winning lottery ticket for five more, especially with the Cardinals needing help at numerous positions.
Whether it's trading back at No. 4 and still landing Anderson or trading a bit deeper outside of the top five and netting a future first-round pick, the Cardinals will be in serious business come draft day.
Ossenfort and co. are playing the long game. I'm absolutely buying they'll trade out of No. 3 no matter what to gain more ammo.
Buy or Sell: The Cardinals are getting new uniforms this offseason
There's been a lot of smoke about this on social media recently, but everybody seems to be in the dark when it comes to whether or not Arizona will actually put out new uniforms this year.
Fans have been asking forever to change things up, and though the Cardinals' color scheme makes it hard to ruin any uniform, things are a bit stale and boring when it comes to how things look in the desert.
It's also a fairly lengthy process to change uniforms, and nothing has been leaked that suggests new ones are on the horizon soon.
Of course, the Cardinals could tweet a teaser out five minutes after this publishes and everybody within the facility has done a great job of keeping their lips tight.
Arizona received tremendous feedback from fans after they utilized the black helmet last season, perhaps giving an indication that when new uniforms do arrive, a similar change of pace will be implemented.
Is that coming in 2023?
It feels like the Cardinals want to introduce new uniforms with a new era of the team. That could come as soon as 2024 with how their current trajectory looks now.
I'm selling on this - not confidently, but just a gut feeling Arizona will squeeze one more year out of their current set of looks before introducing a fresh phase.
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