Former GM: Cardinals Hold Key to 2024 Draft

ARIZONA -- The Arizona Cardinals have quite the opportunity ahead.

We're officially in the month of the 2024 NFL Draft, where the Cardinals hope to make good on their No. 4 overall selection by either staying and taking a cornerstone player or moving down to further their ammo of draft picks and capital in the second year of a rebuild under general manager Monti Ossenfort.

One former NFL general manager says the pre-draft drama resides in the desert:

"The pre-draft drama is squarely focused on the No. 4 pick and what the Arizona Cardinals decide to do. Will they stay put and pick their next Larry Fitzgerald in wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr.?" Jeff Diamond wrote for The 33rd Team.

"Or will the Cardinals trade the pick to the Minnesota Vikings or Denver Broncos, who would then most likely select QB J.J. McCarthy? Perhaps a surprise team such as the Las Vegas Raiders (holding No. 13 overall) could swoop in and make the best offer to Arizona in search of a better option than Gardner Minshew or Aidan O’Connell."

After going through the varying interest/scenarios for potential teams trading up, the former Vikings GM concluded with the following:

"Bottom line — expect a lot of continued chatter about [J.J.] McCarthy and the other top quarterbacks up to and into the early first round on April 25.

"Buckle up, folks. We’ve got another month of private quarterback meetings and workouts, posturing by teams and trade offers heading Arizona’s way with news leaks — planned (as smokescreens) and unplanned — along the way. It’s all part of the pre-draft hype and subterfuge that takes over in earnest once the early free agent period ends.

"And the pivot point of the 2024 NFL Draft is currently at No. 4 with the Cardinals in the catbird seat."

Ossenfort seems to be well aware of where his team sits, too.

"There'll be a big neon sign that says open - I don't like it blinking, that kind of messes with my eyes," Ossenfort joked when asked if other teams would know if Arizona would be willing to listen to offers.

"But yeah, 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."

Arizona holds picks 4 and 27 in the first round. Out of their 11 total picks, six come in the first three rounds.