Cardinals: Draft Trade Talks Were Quiet

The Arizona Cardinals said there wasn't much trade noise when they were on the clock.

Cardinals general manager Monti Ossenfort speaks about Walter Nolen with head coach Jonathan Gannon during a news conference inside the Arizona Cardinals training facility on April 24, 2025, in Tempe. / Patrick Breen/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

ARIZONA -- The dust is officially settled on the 2025 NFL Draft, and though rumors and speculation suggested the Arizona Cardinals would entertain trade calls, the organization ultimately stuck to the 16th selection and drafted Ole Miss DL Walter Nolen.

After the night concluded, general manager Monti Ossenfort told reporters the phones were pretty quiet when they were on the clock.

“It was pretty quiet. We had some teams check in early on and then as things kind of went along, there really wasn’t much tonight. That’s how it goes," said Ossenfort.

"I think that first year, there was a ton of action, and then last year a little bit and then tonight. Now we’ll see what tomorrow brings. Different teams are motivated, the picks came off and their boards fell a certain way, there just wasn’t a lot of motivation for anybody to move up.”

Ossenfort had been fairly active in his prior two drafts in terms of maneuvering the draft board, which led many to believe Arizona would again be looking to make a splash in the trade market.

Yet that ultimately wasn't the case, and the Cardinals were excited to land who they deemed was the top prospect on their board in Nolen.

“Honestly, I don’t think there were a ton of surprises. We were just talking before we came down here, there really weren’t a ton of out of nowhere picks tonight," Ossenfort said after the first round concluded.

"Now they may have went maybe a pick or two earlier or a different order, but tonight it really wasn’t that surprising who the actual names were.”

The Cardinals are slated to pick twice today - with one pick in the second and third round.

Ossenfort says the Cardinals are excited to get back to work today.

"We were actually counting numbers. We’re at 47, so we’re 14 picks out and we were counting numbers of guys that we like," he said.

"We feel good about where we’re at tomorrow and then we’ll see what happens. We’ll see if there’s phone calls tomorrow, a chance to move up, move back. Those are all possibilities. We feel good about the way the board looks right now. We think we’ll be able to add two good players tomorrow.”