Insider on Cardinals Draft: 'This is Their Moment'

The Arizona Cardinals have quite the opportunity ahead of them, according to one NFL draft insider.

ARIZONA -- If you've heard it once, you've heard it a hundred times: The Arizona Cardinals have an important draft ahead of them.

The dust has settled on Arizona's initial rebuilding efforts that began last offseason under general manager Monti Ossenfort, which involved stripping the roster down to bare bones and acquiring massive assets for the future.

Growing pains are never fun, and that was evident in Arizona's 4-13 finish last season. The Cardinals did manage to show some fight, providing a glimpse of hope for the future.

There's still work to be done, and that starts with the No. 4 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. In total, Ossenfort has 11 picks to work with, which includes two in the first and six total selections in the first three rounds.

"I can't wait to see what he [Ossenfort] does. There's some things you want to get accomplished here. Number one, you still need some blue chip players. You can't always trade back and keep getting more and more and more picks. Eventually you've got to add more -- they need blue chip talent players here," NFL Draft insider Daniel Jeremiah said on a conference call with reporters.

Arizona's previous draft haul led to some impressive rookies leading the charge in the desert. Another strong class could catapult the Cardinals' rebuild ahead of schedule - though it's unclear if Ossenfort intends to maneuver the draft boards like he did one year ago, or if Arizona's ready to start collecting elite talent at the top of the draft.

"I think there's a way where they can get creative. I think there's a way where they can serve all these masters. In other words, they get some impact players. They can still move around the board a little bit, hopefully continue to add picks in the future, keep that alive," Jeremiah said.

"I love, when you've got all this capital, let's not spend it all this year. Let's try to keep accumulating things for next year. I think they're in a prime position where they can get out at four if they want to and come back up and get one of those top three receivers. If they think those guys are close, and who knows what order they have them in--I think that order changes around the league -- I think they can get one of those guys as a top five player while also collecting a little something extra."

In theory, the Cardinals could capitalize on a quarterback-needy team with the fourth overall pick and move down for a slew of picks - Arizona's reported asking price if three first-rounders if they drop out of the top ten.

Yet the Cardinals also know they can't leave the first night of the draft without a top wideout on their team. Many believe they could execute a game plan similar to last year where Arizona moved down before jumping back into the top ten to get "their guy", whether that be Marvin Harrison Jr., Malik Nabers or Rome Odunze.

"It's a way for them to add impact guys at positions of need while also continuing to add some more firepower here. Yeah, this is a 'set your franchise up' situation here for the Arizona Cardinals. The Houston Texans did it last year. If you go back and look at a lot of the Super Bowl teams, you can identify the one-or two-year period where their draft set that run up," Jeremiah said.

"Seattle is one that comes right to mind, what they did over a couple years. I remember back when I was in Baltimore in the early 2000s, the Chargers had gone on a good run, and we had talked about it in our meeting, where they had back-to-back drafts, just two drafts where they hit on five guys each, and it set them up to be a really competitive team for a decade.

"This is their moment here. They need to get some guys who really make a difference for them."