Cardinals GM Gets Honest on NFL Draft

The Arizona Cardinals never came close to trading the No. 4 pick, according to Monti Ossenfort.

Apr 25, 2024; Detroit, MI, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. is selected as the / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

ARIZONA -- In an interview with Rich Eisen, Arizona Cardinals GM Monti Ossenfort said the team received no offer that "came close" to getting them away from Marvin Harrison Jr. in the 2024 NFL Draft:

"A lot of that legwork was done during the day on Thursday. Phone calls were made and some parameters were laid down. Some teams wanted to wait and see themselves on who was going to be left on the clock once we got through the first three picks. We had those initial discussions with multiple teams - once those first three picks came, and we took those phone calls, ultimately there was nothing that came close to getting us to move off that pick," said Ossenfort.

"We had done a ton of work on Marvin and really at that point, it was really a no-brainer for us. We were excited to put that pick in at that point."

💻 Monti Ossenfort

The @AZCardinals GM told us if it was always going to be Marvin Harrison Jr. at 4th overall? Was there any thought of trading down or making any moves with the pick?#NFL #NFLDraft #BirdGang pic.twitter.com/OHTxhv3yMY

— Rich Eisen Show (@RichEisenShow) May 6, 2024

Months of reports and speculation led to Arizona's No. 4 selection, with Ossenfort even openly suggesting the Cardinals were in business - and though framework was laid with numerous teams before Arizona was on the clock, no offer shined brighter than the prospect of adding the draft's best non-quarterback to the roster.

"I think really the month leading up to the draft, there's phone calls, 'Hey, we would be interested - what would it look like coming up to number four?' and really the specifics of that aren't laid out until really the day of the draft. It's similar to what we did last year. And so on Thursday, during the day, teams actually started putting picks to the offer and really getting specifics with those offers," said Ossenfort.

"Some of those were, 'hey, we want to wait until we see who's exactly on the clock' and some of those were, 'hey, would you do it right now?' and really both of those, once we got on the clock and really leading up to that, those offers just didn't come close to getting us to move off the pick."

Arizona could have possibly seen different results if Harrison was off the board at No. 3, which would have provided another quarterback option for teams looking to move up.

After Eisen proposed that scenario, Ossenfort acknowledged a decision wasn't fully made (by the Cardinals or other interested teams) until they knew exactly what was on the clock.

"I think that's possible, Rich. Whether it would have been those three quarterbacks that went or if it would have been a different quarterback that went, I think that's always going to affect the interest in our picks," Ossenfort said.

"So similar to last year, I think the way the first two picks came off the board affected the market for number three. Just the same this year - I think the first three picks affected the market. If that would have been a different player, a position player, if that would have been Marvin or if that would have been a different quarterback. Obviously each team has a different board. I think certainly that would have affected the market depending if Drake [Maye] or anybody else was there. I think that always affects what other teams are willing to do."