This offseason has been dominated by discussion of the future of quarterback Kyler Murray with the Arizona Cardinals. He seeks a new contract and some believe he could end up getting traded.
How could that affect the Cardinals’ plans for the NFL draft next week?
In the latest mock draft from Draft Wire managing editor Luke Easterling, it supposes the Cardinals have plans of moving on from Murray.
However, they don’t trade him before the draft, meaning they still only have the 23rd overall pick.
They use that selection to draft Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett, making him the third quarterback drafted in the first round by Arizona in the last five years.
After the offseason we’ve had, don’t even pretend this couldn’t happen. Russell Wilson, Davante Adams and Tyreek Hill are just a few of the names who have been traded over the last month, so nobody is safe. If the Cardinals don’t want to extend Kyler Murray, I’m sure there are plenty of other teams who would send them plenty of draft picks for the right to do so.
If a top quarterback prospect like Pickett is still on the board here, it wouldn’t be the craziest thing for the team that took Murray just a year after trading up into the top 10 for Josh Rosen to spend their top pick on a new passer yet again. The Cards could make this selection, then have a bidding war for Murray that brings them a haul of future picks.
This would certainly make an for an interesting strategy. By drafting Pickett, the Cardinals are likely downgrading at the position. By not trading Murray before the draft, they drive down his value presumably, making it less likely that they could get a haul of picks because they took any leverage from themselves.
There is no indication that the Cardinals are even remotely interested in trading Murray. Murray has not requested a trade.
This might be the least likely scenario possible a mock draft could come up with.
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