3 options for the Arizona Cardinals with the 3rd overall pick

The Arizona Cardinals are going into this year’s draft with control of the board after Panthers and Texans presumably take QBs at the top two spots. With one of C.J. Stroud, Bryce Young, and combine darling Anthony Richardson still on the board at the third pick, Arizona has a chance to get a bounty of draft assets for the third overall pick.

The Cardinals could choose to take the first non-QB of the draft or go trade down with a QB-needy team. Since the Colts are up after the Cardinals, a team’s last chance in this draft to get a QB could be with a trade-up with Arizona. Therefore Arizona will have a golden ticket to get a similar package that Chicago was able to get for the first overall pick.

Tennessee is a prime team to trade up in this draft

As reported by Daniel Jeremiah on his Move the Sticks podcast, the Titans are a team to watch in the race to trade up for the third overall pick. The Titans don’t have any extra draft capital to get a deal done but they could offer a similar offer that the Panthers did for the first overall pick but without a D.J. Moore-type player due to that deal allowing Carolina to pick any QB they wanted.

The Titans are going into the first stages of the rebuild and might not be interested in trading up for a QB that isn’t their top choice. If they aren’t the Cards might have to select a player instead or trade with another team.

Arizona Cardinals could take the best player in the draft if they don’t trade down

If the Arizona Cardinals don’t trade down, going for Will Anderson could be the best decision this team could make. Will Anderson is the best prospect in this draft if you are not considering positional value. Jalen Carter had a right to challenge him as the best individual draft prospect but recent legal troubles have created his stock to fall drastically.

The Cardinals need an Edge rusher and Will Anderson is the best edge in the draft. This draft has plenty of solid edge rushers. Arizona could go Tryee Wilson here at three but it feels that Anderson is next-level special. The Alabama edge rusher had a down year last season but possesses skills that could make him an all-pro perennial player.

Las Vegas could look for a long-term QB by trading up with Arizona

While the Raiders did sign Jimmy Garoppolo to a long-term three-year deal, Las Vegas could look for a longer-term answer for QB by trading up with Arizona. The Raiders save 24 million dollars in cap space if they trade Jimmy Garoppolo next offseason. Therefore it makes complete sense for them to use Garoppolo as a bridge QB.

Daniel Jeremiah did mention that the Raiders are monitoring a trade for the Cards’ pick in the same report he made before. 

While it is a pretty expensive one-year bridge for a QB, it does allow them to gain draft value back in any trade-up with the Cardinals. This is the same plan that the 49ers did when they traded up for Trey Lance (except in their case both QBs got injured). This trade-up would cost a lot less due to the fact they are only trading up four spots instead of nine spots.

Still, it would cost at least a first and two second-round picks at the minimum.  The Raiders could recoup some of that cost by getting a second back for Jimmy G next offseason. If the Cardinals can trade down with the Raiders, they will be able to still possibly select Tryee Wilson or take an elite secondary prospect off the board in Devon Witherspoon (assuming the Seahawks go defense lineman as expected).