The Cardinals make three deals in this NFL mock draft before the first round ends.

In his first NFL Draft, general manager of the Arizona Cardinals Monti Ossenfort appeared skilled, and it wasn’t only because of the well-made film the team put together.

The first-year general manager needed more than a few texts to go from being the third overall pick to the 12th spot and back to the sixth spot. In the event that Ohio State receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. is not selected by the Cardinals or if they are not sold on him, they may choose to go back to the down-and-up with the fourth overall choice in 2024.

Arizona trades with the Minnesota Vikings for their No. 11 pick in his second mock draft, according to NFL.com’s Eric Edholm. Arizona then trades back up to No. 8 with the Atlanta Falcons.

Drake Maye, a quarterback, is now available to Minnesota as the fourth pick among the first four quarterbacks.

For Arizona, it means drafting Caleb Williams first overall and moving up to the Chicago Bears’ second first-round pick. That would make it more likely that the Cardinals would select a receiver, Rome Odunze of Washington, in this hypothetical selection.

A year ago, GM Monti Ossenfort moved from No. 3 overall down to 12, then back up to 6 to acquire a much-needed bookend blocker (Paris Johnson Jr.). In this simulation, he pulls off a similar trick to target another big need: wide receiver. Jumping ahead of the Bears is the key here. Kyler Murray gets a promising WR1 candidate in Odunze, whom Daniel Jeremiah has compared to Larry Fitzgerald.

 

In Arizona’s initial trade with the Vikings, the No. 23 pick was also acquired by the Cardinals; in reality, this pick was moved from Cleveland to Houston and subsequently Minnesota.

Cooper DeJean, an Iowa cornerback, is selected by Arizona for the mock world. From Edholm:

The second first-rounder Arizona would receive in my mock trade from above could be used on defensive help. Jonathan Gannon would love to add a multi-use piece in the secondary such as DeJean, who also could give the punt-return unit some juice. DeJean’s season-ending injury means he won’t work out until April 15, which leaves his projection a bit unclear right now.

The Cardinals are still swaying and trembling in Edholm’s first-round simulation before we leave.

After trading Houston’s No. 3 pick from last year, they already had the 27th pick. This time, Arizona trades that pick to the Washington Commanders in exchange for two early second-round selections, Nos. 36 and 40 overall.