Cardinals Should Get Massive Trade for First Pick

The Arizona Cardinals have every right to demand such a high cost for their pick.

ARIZONA -- The Arizona Cardinals' asking price to move down from the No. 4 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft is reportedly steep.

As it should be.

The Cardinals' 4-13 record in 2023 set them up with another top-five selection similar to last offseason when general manager Monti Ossenfort first took over the wheel in the desert.

With a franchise quarterback already at the helm in Kyler Murray, the Cardinals won't be eying a passer at the top of the order like the three teams ahead of them - or any of the teams looking to move up.

Arizona holds the keys to what could be a franchise-altering pick. Ossenfort knows that, and so too do organizations such as the New York Giants, Las Vegas Raiders, Minnesota Vikings and Denver Broncos.

The Cardinals have been quite open on their desires to at least listen to conversations about trading down in the draft. Ossenfort and co. haven't hid their interest in the slightest in dropping out of No. 4 for more capital to play with, as Arizona already owns multiple first-round picks with six total selections in the first three rounds later this month.

"We're always going to be listening. We'll always have the conversation - we may not get to a point where the deal makes sense, whether it's at four or anywhere we're picking, but we're always going to have the conversation. If it makes sense and if it's attractive to building our team, then it's something that we'll certainly consider no matter where we're at in the draft," Ossenfort told reporters earlier this offseason.

The team most paired with Arizona for a trade are the Vikings - who sit at No. 11 and recently acquired an extra first-round pick via the Houston Texans. After watching Kirk Cousins depart in free agency with no real solution in place, Minnesota's a hot candidate to make the climb up the order.

Everything comes with a price, however. Arizona's reportedly looking for three first-round picks in exchange to move down out of the top ten with the Vikings according to OutKick.

Again - steep. Very steep. But it makes sense.

"Ossenfort has something of a case," wrote Armando Salguero on the price tag. "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.

"The fact the Cardinals are floating three first-round picks in return for their pick in what basically would be a trade for J.J. McCarthy is an open secret now."

You'll hear rebuttal for that Dolphins haul, and there's merit. San Francisco moved up to effectively get the third quarterback off the board whereas a team such as the Vikings would snag the fourth. There's a difference in those scenarios, for sure.

But if Minnesota brass is either desperate enough to make the splash or they truly believe a quarterback such as McCarthy can replicate his championship success from Michigan - then the price tag will be worth it. People will only recall the success McCarthy (or whoever else may be available) has at the next level rather than what Minnesota mortgaged for him.

That surely factors into the price tag, too. The "quarterback tax" is a very real thing in these negotiations, and if Minnesota surely believes their next great passer will be available for them at No. 4, you can't put a price on steadying the sport's most important position.

This is also negotiation tactics 101 - always start high and slowly drop if needed. The Cardinals would be silly to start in the middle as sellers.

That's the vantage point from Arizona - but so too is the reality of being more than comfortable sticking and picking. The Cardinals are in no rush to move out, nor are they stuck by any imagination. While it can be argued what exactly the best route of business is when they're on the clock, it's tough to think the Cardinals wouldn't take Marvin Harrison Jr. in a heartbeat, immediately upgrading their offense with the draft's best non-quarterback prospect and selling season tickets and jerseys at record pace.

So, here Arizona sits in win-win position. The Cardinals can either stick at No. 4 with a cornerstone player falling to their hands, or they can auction off the pick to the highest bidder, cashing out in what Cardinals fans hope would be quite the haul.

It's a tough swallow for a front office to award three first-round picks for what wouldn't be the first choice option at their disposal. Frankly put, those swings are surely ones that would either save or destroy futures in the organization.

But this is the reality of the draft, where cores of winning teams are forged. Super Bowls aren't won in late April, but the foundation surely is built at the podium.

We'll see if a team such as the Vikings is willing to play ball - but from Arizona's vantage point - it's going to take a lot to move off the fourth pick.

For the reasons (and dreams sold) listed above, you can't blame them.