Are Cardinals About to Make Massive Move?

The Arizona Cardinals could have something up their sleeve.

Sep 10, 2023; Landover, Maryland, USA; Arizona Cardinals safety K'Von Wallace (22) cornerback Marco Wilson (20) and linebacker Cameron Thomas (97) celebrate after scoring a touchdown against the Washington Commanders in the second half at FedExField. Mandatory Credit: Brent Skeen-USA TODAY Sports / Brent Skeen-USA TODAY Sports

ARIZONA -- The Arizona Cardinals made a surprising late-night trade with the Kansas City Chiefs ahead of the NFL's league-wide cut down day, sending OLB Cameron Thomas to the defending Super Bowl champions in exchange for a seventh-round selection per reports.

Sources: The #AZCardinals have traded LB Cam Thomas to the #Chiefs for a 7th round pick. Some added edge help.

The deal was facilitated by agent @chriscabott of @EquitySports. pic.twitter.com/pVqAI0Il2m

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 27, 2024

The move was a bit surprising for a handful of reasons.

Thomas was coming off a fairly strong preseason where he tallied three sacks in the final two weeks. The Cardinals - who lost OLB BJ Ojulari for the season with a knee injury - already saw their depth impacted, and while Thomas wasn't set to start, the 24-year-old showed signs of improvement entering his third season.

With the low price tag, it's clear the Cardinals didn't value Thomas extremely high, and it's possible he may have not made the final 53 man roster (those are due by 1:00 PM Arizona time).

But is something bigger on the horizon?

Arizona has plenty of cap space available to pair with draft ammo. Adding a premier pass-rusher was already on the menu before Ojulari was hurt and Thomas was dealt - now with two of the more bigger names out of the rotation in the desert, all eyes are on general manager Monti Ossenfort to see if there's another splash to be made:

Perhaps the talents of Haason Reddick could return - the Cardinals would have to pay some big bucks to their former first-round pick, though he'd easily walk into Arizona as the top pass rusher and has previous experience with Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon, who was his defensive coordinator during their time together in Philadelphia.

Perhaps free agent Yannick Ngakoue is in the mix, though the player who was once one of the best in the business played just 13 games last year and would likely arrive on a one-year prove-it deal out of free agency.

Regardless, the Cardinals will certainly be an interesting team to watch throughout the next few days.