Insider: Cardinals Obviously Should Trade Down

The Arizona Cardinals are the most obvious trade-down candidates in the NFL Draft, according to ESPN.

ARIZONA -- The Arizona Cardinals should absolutely trade down from the No. 4 pick, says ESPN insider Bill Barnwell.

"This is the most obvious trade-down spot in Round 1 in terms of projected value. Most mock drafts have the Cardinals staying put and filling a huge need by drafting wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. (Ohio State), and I could certainly understand that move. Harrison might be the next Larry Fitzgerald, and taking Fitzgerald at No. 3 in 2004 worked out pretty well for the Cardinals in the long run," he wrote.

"Treating a top-five wide receiver as a lock to become the next Fitzgerald is a dangerous game, though. The other wideouts taken in the top five since 2000 include Calvin Johnson and Ja'Marr Chase, but there's also Peter Warrick, Charles Rogers, Justin Blackmon and Sammy Watkins, who weren't able to convert their college dominance to pro success. In a wide receiver class widely regarded as the deepest in recent memory, Arizona doesn't need to take a wideout here to find playmakers for Kyler Murray.

"The bigger reason to pass on Harrison and trade down would be the positioning the Cardinals offer to teams that might want to move up for McCarthy (or whichever quarterback is still on the board at No. 4). The only way for the Vikings or Raiders to ensure landing QB4 is to trade up to here. Jumping from the teens to No. 4 should net the Cardinals another first-round pick and something more in return, allowing a team with holes on both sides of the ball to supplement multiple spots on their roster. Like they did a year ago for offensive tackle Paris Johnson Jr., the Cardinals could trade back up into the bottom half of the top 10 if they really wanted to add Malik Nabers (LSU) or Rome Odunze (Washington), who are considered the next-best receivers."

When it comes to Arizona's asking price, OutKick.com is reporting Ossenfort is asking for three first-round picks.

"And Ossenfort has in conversations made it known it's in the best interest of the Cardinals to pick up three first-round picks in exchange for the No. 4 overall selection, if he has to drop a significant amount in the first round. Ossenfort has something of a case. He can bring up the 2021 draft in which the 49ers sent to the Dolphins a first-round pick in 2021, 2022 and 2023, plus a third-round pick in 2022 in order to vault from the No. 12 overall spot to No. 3," wrote Armando Salguero.

Arizona's in the second year of a rebuild and could look to capitalize big time on a quarterback-needy team. Whether they budge on their rumored price tag remains to be seen, though it seemingly makes too much sense for the Cardinals to trade down.