Arizona Cardinals Buy or Sell: Steve Keim makes a trade before Week 1
By Tyler Olson
The Arizona Cardinals have been on the field for nearly a month. Could a new face enter the clubhouse soon?
Unlike 30 other teams, the Arizona Cardinals have two games in the books already thanks to the Hall of Fame Game. Even better, coaches and management have had an extra week of practice to evaluate their roster for the upcoming 2017 season.
Fortunately for the Cardinals, they’ve avoided any serious injuries to key players. While some are struggling to overcome those nagging injuries, no starters — knock on wood — have hit the dreaded injured reserve list prior to Week 1.
Injuries, however, don’t set the premise for this article. And I can have head coach Bruce Arians back me up on this one.
Just earlier this week, Arians expressed to reporters how unhappy he is with the wide receivers. Larry Fitzgerald and Jaron Brown are the exception but everyone else in the room is performing well under his expectations from this past spring. That includes the injury prone John Brown, who needs a big year as he rounds out his rookie contract. It also includes Chad Williams, a third-round rookie out of Grambling State.
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The list goes on with J.J. Nelson, Brittan Golden, Aaron Dobson and others. And Arians has had enough of the group saying they may start exploring other options.
That’s where general manager Steve Keim comes in to the mix. The man in charge of setting the roster for Arians, Keim’s responsibility is to have the right guys in the room come the start of the 16-game season which for the Cardinals starts Sept. 10 against the Detroit Lions. There are two realistic options for Keim and co. available: Wait for roster cuts on Sept. 3 or make a trade.
Option 2 has the most appeal to it as long as they’re willing to ship off their own assets in return. The toughest part may be finding a viable trade partner. You don’t dare begin discussions with the Cleveland Browns for Josh Gordon because, well, Josh Gordon. There’s no way the New York Giants will part with Odell Beckham Jr. either. And they missed out on both Sammy Watkins and Jordan Matthews as they were both dealt last Friday.
Arizona’s best option for a trade may very well be the life and blood of the Miami Dolphins offense: Jarvis Landry.
Like Beckham, Landry is in the final year of his rookie contract and is ready to get paid. And if traded, he’s going to want a long-term deal done. The Cardinals currently have $11 million left in salary cap to work with, which is more than what Landry, in my opinion, is going to bring in come payday.
Taking a step back it’s hard to see Miami trading Landry. He’s caught 288 passes for over 3,000 yards in his first three years in the league. But looking at the wide receivers room in Miami they’re stacked with the likes of Kenny Stills, DeVante Parker, an up-and-coming Leonte Carroo and a couple of undrafted rookies that have impressed thus far.
The next question to ask is what would Keim give in return for Landry. There are no players that jump to mind right away, and Arizona only has five draft picks for 2018.
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If Keim is serious and the Cardinals believe they’re in a win-now situation, then it should be considered. The Cardinals can inquire with Miami or any other organization about the possibility of a trade happening. But Arizona wants to begin a youth movement and build the offense around a new quarterback in 2018. If that’s the case they should grit their teeth and roll with the receivers they have now.
I don’t believe Keim makes a deal prior to the regular season, so this is a sell situation.