5 Draft Day Scenarios for the Arizona Cardinals

With the Arizona Cardinals picking 15th in two days, they have a number of potential deals sitting in front of them that they’ll have to decide which one is the right one to take.

Here are five scenarios heading into the draft to watch for the Arizona Cardinals.

1.Cardinals trade into the top five

This is the one that means they are going to get Baker Mayfield, as Peter King has reported they love Mayfield. Trading up here likely means foregoing most of their picks on day two and early in 2019, but love is a strong word and can be costly.

2. Cardinals trade into the 7-10 range

The Cardinals need a sliding Josh Allen or Josh Rosen to fall past the six spot, which the Colts currently hold and have eight elite players graded not including the quarterbacks, meaning they likely won’t want to drop below 12 to guarantee themselves one of those players.

Enter the Bucs to the Raiders picks. It would cost less and give the Cardinals a player in Allen who they like, or Rosen who they have spent an astronomical amount of time with.

3. Cardinals stand pat

This means the Cardinals sit at 15 with the chance to likely take: Lamar Jackson, Harold Landry, any wide receiver, the next best offensive lineman after Quenton Nelson, the top cornerback after Denzel Ward, falling player ala Minkah Fitzpatrick/Derwin James/Roquan Smith.

4. Cardinals move back between 17-27

Teams that want Lamar Jackson may need to get in front of the Baltimore Ravens. That means getting to 15 with the Arizona Cardinals (If we are being realistic most teams will view this as needing to get in front of AZ to 13/14, but lets have fun).

That means a player like Will Hernandez, a cornerback (Isaiah Oliver) or wide receiver (Christian Kirk), maybe an inside linebacker (Rashaan Evans), and who knows, maybe a quarterback like Mason Rudolph or Kyle Lauletta.

5. Cardinals trade back into round one with Philadelphia Eagles

The Cardinals want a quarterback, they know Lauletta or Rudolph, heck maybe even a falling Lamar Jackson, won’t be there at 47, so they trade away day two for a second first round pick. (The Vikings traded #40 and #108 for #32, the 49ers traded #34 and #111 for #31 last year, so for #32, it would likely cost the Cardinals #47 and #97, maybe even #47 and #79)

Going to the Eagles pick from 32 to grab a day two quarterback on day one, with the Cardinals QB room as is, would be a strong play to add the top player of need at 15 and come back and get their quarterback of the future at 32.