The Arizona Cardinals have an interesting decision to make regarding the No. 4 overall pick in this year’s draft.
Cardinals general manager Monti Ossenfort revealed this week that trade calls are starting to pick up. However, he doesn’t expect talks to get “real serious” until the draft gets closer.
“I’d say those phone calls are starting to pick up a little bit. I would say they’ll probably continue into next week when we go down to Florida for the owners’ meetings,” Ossenfort said, via Pro Football Talk. “I think most teams are in a similar spot to us, starting to finalize their boards, and the pro day pieces are the final on-field pieces for evaluation purposes. So I would imagine some of those conversations will continue to pick up, but honestly they probably will not get real serious until we get right up until the week of the draft, similar to last year. They have definitely picked up, but I would expect that to continue here for the next month.”
Most analysts expect the Cardinals to select Ohio State wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. with the fourth pick. That is, of course, if they can’t find a trade partner.
Since the current expectation is that Caleb Williams, Drake Maye and Jayden Daniels will be the top three picks in some order, the Cardinals could seek a large return from a team interested in taking Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy with the fourth pick.
The Minnesota Vikings have to be one team to watch in this situation. They currently own a pair of first-round picks and are looking to move up.
It wouldn’t surprise us at all if the Cardinals trade the No. 4 pick before the first round arrives on April 25.