Arizona Cardinals draft rumors: Trade up for WR incoming?
The Arizona Cardinals set the tone early on in the 2021 offseason — they plan on being aggressive. General manager Steve Keim and head coach Kliff Kingsbury set out to upgrade the roster early and often in free agency after being aggressive really for the last couple of years.
The Cardinals moved on from Josh Rosen just a year into that investment in favor of Kyler Murray. They traded for arguably the league’s best wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins in 2020.
In 2021, they’ve already added future Hall of Fame defensive lineman JJ Watt, his 2011 NFL Draft classmate AJ Green, running back James Conner, All-Pro center Rodney Hudson, and former Super Bowl hero Malcolm Butler.
This team is obviously priming to make a push in 2021, and they should. The Arizona Cardinals have one of the most talented quarterbacks in the NFL and a variety of players around him to help make him better.
With that being said, they might not be done adding to their offensive weaponry.
Keep hearing from unconnected people around the league that the Cardinals are trying to trade up for a wide receiver.
— Matt Miller (@nfldraftscout) April 21, 2021
Could 100% be a smokescreen, but A LOT of people are saying this now
Interestingly enough, this is not remotely the first time this has been mentioned, which leads me to believe there might be some fire along with this smoke.
The Arizona Cardinals need impact players more than they need a bounty of draft selections, so moving up for an impact player makes a lot of sense.
Lucky for them, the majority of the teams picking in the top 10 of the 2021 NFL Draft seem to be interested in trading down if the price is right.
Arizona could move up for a player like Jaylen Waddle, who would add a dynamic element of speed to their wide receiver group, and terrorize opposing defenses all season long. They could trade up for someone like Kyle Pitts if he falls past the Falcons and Bengals and add the most dynamic tight end in the draft to an already dynamic offensive core.
They could move up for Ja’Marr Chase or DeVonta Smith, the top two receivers in college football the past two seasons, respectively.
One way or another, the Arizona Cardinals moving up for another playmaker makes a ton of sense. Former second-round picks Andy Isabella and Christian Kirk have not quite lived up to their draft billing and one or both could be moved in a trade.
There are other ways the Cardinals could recoup draft selections but moving up for a dynamic playmaker makes sense for all parties. This team is going for the jugular on the NFC West title and getting a big-time playmaker would make their offense borderline unstoppable.