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NFL Draft 2019 Trade Rumors: Cardinals Taking 'Feeler Calls' About No. 1 Pick
April 24, 2019
Some NFL teams have reportedly at least explored the possibility of acquiring the No. 1 overall pick in Thursday's draft.
According to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, the Arizona Cardinals have "received some feeler calls about teams potentially trading up to No. 1" even though such a trade would take a "big price." Rapoport noted those trade calls are expected to continue into Thursday before the first round begins.
It has largely been assumed Arizona would use the top pick on Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray.
Bleacher Report's Matt Miller projected as much in a March mock draft, writing "this pick has become even more likely. Everyone in the NFL was shouting it from the rooftops in Indianapolis: Murray is the Cardinals' guy. All that's left is for the team to officially put Josh Rosen on the trade block."
Putting Rosen on the trade block would mean moving on from him a year after selecting him with the No. 10 overall pick in the 2018 draft. However, new head coach Kliff Kingsbury was not involved in that pick and even said he would draft Murray No. 1 overall if given the chance back when he coached at Texas Tech.
Murray led the Sooners to the Big 12 title and a College Football Playoff appearance as a Heisman Trophy winner in 2018. The dual-threat signal-caller threw for 4,361 yards, 42 touchdowns and seven interceptions and ran for 1,001 yards and 12 touchdowns.
While it is hard to doubt Murray's talent, the Cardinals were 3-13 last season and missed the playoffs in each of the last three years. They have plenty of holes to address outside of the quarterback position, where there is already a young player.
Trading the pick could allow Arizona to address a number of positions in this and future drafts and still rely on Rosen to become the franchise quarterback.