The Good, Bad and Ugly From Cardinals Trade Deadline

What to really make of the Arizona Cardinals' trade deadline.

Sep 20, 2026; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Arizona Cardinals safety Budda Baker (3) reacts during warmups prior to the game against the Seattle Seahawks at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

ARIZONA — The Arizona Cardinals' trade deadline mirrored much of their prior 2024 season — an exciting start with a flat ending.

After trading Jacoby Brissett and Marvin Harrison Jr. earlier in the season, the team's 3-6 record propped plenty of opportunities to sell more veteran names ahead of the trade deadline in hopes of truly stockpiling picks ahead of a loaded 2027 draft class.

That wasn't the case, as the Cardinals remained silent and passive as yesterday's 2:00 pm MST deadline came and went.

The good, bad and ugly from Arizona's overall body of work in the trade streets:

The Good: Early Value From Non-Contributing Players

Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. (18) is lifted in the air by his teammates after scoring the first touchdown of the game against the New York Giants on Oct. 4, 2026, in East Rutherford, New Jersey. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The Cardinals managed to flip Marvin Harrison Jr. for a second-round pick while upgrading themselves to a fourth-round pick for Jacoby Brissett.

Monti Ossenfort receives plenty of flack from Cardinals fans, and some of that is deserved, but that's truly a strong return for two players who simply weren't providing Arizona much — if anything at all.

Harrison had just five receptions this season prior to being traded for a second and some minor pick swaps. The Houston Texans have yet to see him break-out like they would have liked, and now some in H-Town are wondering if it might just be the player that was the problem all along.

Brissett, meanwhile, was benched last week and demoted to the bottom of the quarterback depth chart. He was set to be Arizona's inactive emergency passer — so really anything of value like a sixth or seventh-round pick would have been acceptable in a trade.

So when the trade was reported and the Cardinals ultimately sent a fifth-round pick to gain a fourth, it felt like a no-brainer.

Arizona, as a result of those two trades, has six picks in the first four rounds of the 2027 draft. Nice work.

The Bad: Declining a Second-Round Pick for Budda Baker

Nov 1, 2026; Arlington, Texas, USA; Arizona Cardinals safety Budda Baker (3) walks off the field after the game against the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Budda Baker has always found his name dangled in trade chatter. Such is life when you're a talented player on a typically not talented team. Yet this year felt different, as legitimate reports emerged on Baker's willingness to potentially find a fresh start on a competing team.

Not trading Baker isn't the bad part here. He's clearly a franchise icon and has plenty left in the tank.

However, reportedly refusing a second-round pick for Baker feels like bad business in declining a situation that is a rare win-win during the trade deadline.

If Baker himself shot down the trade — that's different. He deserves the right to dictate his future, and if he wants to stay in Arizona, that's perfectly fine. However, if Baker was indeed willing to be moved, and the Cardinals truly did say no to a Day 2 pick from the Buffalo Bills, that's simply not good business.

Baker's value will never be higher than now, and it would be a shame if at some point he's moved within the next 365 days for much less as a result of optics.

The Ugly: Kicking Josh Sweat's Can Down The Road

Arizona Cardinals linebacker Josh Sweat (10) chases after Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix (10) at State Farm Stadium in Glendale on Oct. 25, 2026. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

All signs point to a pending divorce between Josh Sweat and the Cardinals — it's just a matter of when.

Arizona understandably didn't give in to trade noise earlier this offseason/preseason when it was quite loud. However, Sweat clearly wasn't the player the Cardinals saw in 2025, and the feeling between the two sides isn't exactly romantic at this point in time.

Yesterday's trade deadline felt like a prime opportunity to offload Sweat while they could ahead of a 2027 offseason where one of two things is going to happen: The Cardinals will rework Sweat's deal to give him more guaranteed money on the final two years of his contract, or they'll trade him for what will likely be less than what he could have been had for now.

The trade deadline creates urgency and raises the price on players, as Super Bowl contenders are willing to spend more freely and seriously when they see their team's performance halfway through the year.

That didn't happen, and now the Cardinals practically kicked the can down the road on Sweat and the future problems that could create in the desert instead of handling it now.