Cardinals Evaluating All Options in NFL Draft

The Arizona Cardinals are looking to evaluate all offers when they're on the clock.

Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon and general manager Monti Ossenfort during an NFL / Rob Schumacher/The Republic / USA TODAY

ARIZONA -- It's the week of the 2024 NFL Draft, and the Arizona Cardinals still remain one of the league's biggest wildcards.

Arizona - currently sitting at No. 4 in the pecking order - will either draft an elite wideout (assuming Marvin Harrison Jr.) or trade out for a team who wants to offer quite a lot of capital to move up and get a quarterback (assuming J.J. McCarthy).

Whatever direction Arizona goes, we won't know until they're on the clock.

From NFL insider Adam Schefter:

"Arizona general manager Monti Ossenfort has advertised, with the No. 4 overall pick, his team is open for business. But no sales are expected to be final until the Cardinals are on the clock. Ossenfort has told teams around the league that have inquired about trading up that he wants to wait until he is in position to pick before agreeing to any trade.

"A team always could try to outbid the market and lock in the selection now, but it's difficult to give up the haul of compensation it would take without knowing exactly which quarterbacks will be available. And so Ossenfort is sitting, in the eyes of one coach, 'in the catbird seat.' The coach explained: 'He sits at [No.] 4 and can take all the calls he wants.'

"Thus, while the football world waits to see whether the Giants, Vikings, Broncos, Raiders or any other team is interested in trading up to potentially select the fourth quarterback in this draft, the Cardinals will wait for the right offer.

"In last year's draft, no team was more active in the first dozen picks than Arizona, which went from No. 3 to No. 12 to No. 6, all to wind up with offensive tackle Paris Johnson Jr., Houston's 2024 first-round pick and more selections. The Cardinals might be able to pull off a similar feat and still come away with one of this draft's elite wide receivers, along with added draft compensation. Arizona already has six picks in the top 90, so a significant trade down isn't as urgent unless it's a huge package."

The Cardinals have been extremely open about their desires to get a deal done - if it makes sense.

"It's all situational based," Ossenfort told reporters last week. "The easy answer is, yeah, you always want more picks. But we need players. It's more opportunity-based.

"Last year wasn't a case where we said, 'We want to get picks in the future.' It just worked out that way."

Arizona has 11 total picks in the 2024 NFL Draft, with six in the first three rounds like Schefter alluded to earlier. The Cardinals could also look to make a splash with their second first-round pick at No. 27 if a talented player slides down the draft board.