Arizona Cardinals finalizing trade for cornerback Jamar Taylor per report

The Arizona Cardinals have made a move for a cornerback as they have traded for Cleveland Browns cornerback Jamar Taylor per Ian Rapoport:

Taylor is a former second round pick of the Miami Dolphins was traded during the 2016 NFL Draft with a swap of seventh round picks included.

Now, according to Nate Ulrich, he is being traded for a sixth round pick:

It worked out well for the Browns as Taylor was the most improved player for Pro Football Focus:

1. Jamar Taylor, Cleveland Browns

2015 season grade: 36.7

2016 season grade: 82.8

Taylor was sent from Miami to Cleveland via swapping seventh-rounders during the 2016 NFL Draft. A key reason why he showed such drastic improvement had to do with how he was deployed. With the Dolphins, Taylor played only 5 percent of snaps in the slot. In Cleveland, he spent 32 percent of his snaps there. Because of this, he found more success shutting down out routes (51.3 passer rating allowed), slants (62.5), and crossing routes (48.8). After finding himself ranked 106th overall among CBs in 2015, Taylor emerged as our 19th-ranked CB in 2016.

He followed up his big 2016 with a good 2017, finishing with a 74 grade in 2017.

Per Ian Wharton (good friend of the program) who graded all corners in the NFL, Taylor ranked 39th among qualifying cornerbacks for success as a boundary corner in 2017. For reference, Tramon Williams was Wharton’s 12th ranked corner while Peterson was Wharton’s 31st.

Wharton charted Taylor’s stats: 54 targets, 29 receptions, 53.70% completion percentage, 8.9 yards average depth of completion, 419 yards allowed, 0 touchdowns and 1 interception.

Here was Wharton’s overall thoughts on Taylor the player:

Since he is more in the middle pack of starters, and possibly a better fit in the slot, Taylor experiences ups and down during games. He struggled limiting yards after the catch, but also had one of the lowest average depth of completions, so that’s the sort of give and take that he brings....

He’s a functional starter because he can hold his own in man and zone. His missed tackles seemed to spike in 2017 compared to past years, and cutting down his yards after the catch allowed back to normal levels would have enhanced his production allowed totals. He’s a solid third corner on a roster and good-enough second corner as part of a high functioning defense.

Make sure you check out Ian’s book the 2017-18 Cornerback Handbook for all the notes you need on qualifying players.

What do you think of the trade?