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TEMPE, ARIZONA – FEBRUARY 03: New Arizona Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur (L) speaks as general manager Monti Ossenfort looks o during a press conference at Dignity Health Arizona Cardinals Training Center on February 03, 2026 in Tempe, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Coduto\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
It\u2019s pretty evident that the Arizona Cardinals<\/a> still have a lot of needs heading into the 2026 NFL Draft. While the team did address some of those needs in free agency, they now have a chance to keep adding talent with the No. 3 overall pick.<\/p>\n The real question, though, is whether they\u2019ll even keep it.<\/p>\n Their needs may be bigger than some want to admit, and new head coach Mike LaFleur\u2019s vision could require more than one premium pick can realistically fix.<\/p>\n In Bleacher Report\u2019s Brent Sobleski\u2019s latest mock draft projection<\/a>, the Cardinals don\u2019t move out of the first round entirely \u2014 but they do slide back after a proposed trade with the Dallas Cowboys<\/a>.<\/p>\n Cardinals Predicted To Cash In With Draft-Day Trade<\/p>\n The Cowboys have the means to make a bold move like this after trading Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers<\/a> last season.<\/p>\n In Sobleski\u2019s projection, Dallas sends Arizona both of its first-round picks \u2014 No. 12 and No. 20 overall \u2014 to move up to No. 3. That would allow the Cowboys to draft Texas Tech edge rusher David Bailey and finally find a replacement for Parsons.<\/p>\n Sobleski explained why the Cardinals would have every reason to consider a move like that.<\/p>\n \u201cA trade-down isn\u2019t just an opportunity for the Cardinals to add draft ammunition and improve multiple areas of the roster\u2014even though both are true in this situation. Instead, the most important aspect of a possible move is how Arizona can stack the board in its favor,\u201d Sobleski wrote.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, the Cardinals could land a top-notch prospect with this year\u2019s third overall pick. However, two first-round talents can be far more beneficial for a squad that managed only one winning season in its last 10.\u201d<\/p>\n And that\u2019s the part Arizona can\u2019t ignore.<\/p>\n This roster needs more than one answer. Turning one pick into two first-rounders could speed up the rebuild in a hurry while giving LaFleur more pieces to shape things his way.<\/p>\n It would also give them room to attack the quarterback position without forcing it at No. 3.<\/p>\n Cardinals Predicted To Take Big Swing At Quarterback<\/p>\n As of now, the Cardinals appear set to ride things out with Jacoby Brissett and Gardner Minshew at quarterback<\/a> in 2026. That could change, but maybe not with pick No. 12.<\/p>\n Instead, Sobleski has Arizona selecting Miami offensive tackle Francis Mauigoa \u2014 a quarterback protector who would immediately help stabilize the line.<\/p>\n Mauigoa would join free-agent addition Isaac Seumalo, who signed a three-year, $31.5 million deal as part of Arizona\u2019s effort to rebuild the trenches.<\/p>\n Then eight picks later, the Cardinals make the far more interesting move.<\/p>\n At No. 20, Sobleski has Arizona selecting Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson, one of the most polarizing players in the entire draft.<\/p>\n When it comes to Simpson, opinions are all over the place. Some believe he has legitimate first-round talent. Others don\u2019t see it at all.<\/p>\n One who falls into that second camp is ESPN\u2019s Peter Schrager.<\/p>\n \u201cTy Simpson might be a very good player. \u2026 I don\u2019t see a team for him right now,\u201d Schrager said<\/a> of Simpson\u2019s first-round outlook.<\/p>\n Then there\u2019s Dan Orlovsky, who has been adamant about Simpson\u2019s first-round potential, with support from others such as The Ringer\u2019s Todd McShay<\/a>.<\/p>\n At least for Arizona, taking Simpson here wouldn\u2019t carry nearly the same pressure as taking him third overall.<\/p>\n They\u2019d already have addressed another major need, and they wouldn\u2019t be tying their entire draft to one quarterback gamble.<\/p>\n And if Simpson doesn\u2019t hit? Arizona could very well be right back in the hunt in 2027 \u2014 a class already being projected as quarterback-heavy.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tShane Shoemaker<\/a> Shane Shoemaker is a sports journalist covering college football and the NFL for Heavy.com. His work has also appeared in The Sporting News, Athlon Sports, USA TODAY, and ClutchPoints, along with high school sports coverage for the Marion Tribune. More about Shane Shoemaker<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on AZ Cardinals\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty TEMPE, ARIZONA – FEBRUARY 03: New Arizona Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur (L) speaks as general manager…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":865572,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2078],"tags":[375,390,2604,1327,7,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-865571","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arizona-cardinals","8":"tag-arizona","9":"tag-arizona-cardinals","10":"tag-arizonacardinals","11":"tag-cardinals","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116398158022309681","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=865571"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865571\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/865572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=865571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=865571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=865571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}