Ty Simpson Eyed in Trade by NFC Team in New NFL Mock Drafts from Mel Kiper, Todd McShay

Multiple mock drafts that dropped Wednesday projected Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson to land with the Arizona Cardinals in the 2026 NFL draft.

ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. and The Ringer's Todd McShay both predicted that the Cardinals will trade up from No. 34 overall in the second round to No. 30 in the first round in a deal with the Miami Dolphins in order to select Simpson.

Also, Dane Brugler of The Athletic projected Simpson to go 34th overall to Arizona near the top of Round 2.

Simpson landed with the Cardinals in the BR NFL Scouting Department's latest mock draft as well, via Arizona trading up from No. 34 to No. 26 with the Buffalo Bills.

While Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza feels like a slam dunk pick to the Las Vegas Raiders at No. 1 overall, it has been a constant debate throughout the draft process whether a second quarterback would go in the first round.

If another QB does come off the board within the first 32 picks, all signs point to it being Simpson, who is coming off an impressive first and only season as the starter at Alabama.

Simpson went 11-4 and led the Crimson Tide to the College Football Playoff, while completing 64.5 percent of his passes for 3,567 yards, 28 touchdowns and five interceptions.

Ty Simpson highlights

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The Cardinals make perfect sense as a potential landing spot for Simpson after they parted ways with former franchise quarterback Kyler Murray this offseason.

Veteran journeyman Jacoby Brissett is currently in line to start in 2026 with Gardner Minshew backing him up, meaning Arizona doesn't currently have a long-term answer under center.

With the arrival of former Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur as the Cards' new head coach, it stands to reason that he would like to get a franchise QB in the building as quickly as possible.

Since the Cardinals already have the No. 3 overall pick, using that selection to address a different area of need before trading back into the end of the first round to grab their quarterback feels like a realistic and potentially even likely scenario.