B
Arizona Cardinals
The Cardinals won the weekend at the trade table. Grade: B.
by Stan93 ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 25 picks
· 9 steals
· 10 reaches
If confidence were a draft strategy, the Cardinals would have aced it. Shaun Dolac at the 132nd pick is 175 spots clear of where he belonged.
The Burden III steal is the beam this whole class leans on. The phones were where this weekend was really won.
On the needs board they went 8 of 8, with quarterback the one that mattered most. The Cardinals clearly valued win-now help, adding bodies who have done it before.
A competent weekend that does not make headlines and does not need to.
Pick-by-Pick
They read the board right and Kenneth Grant was the payoff at slot 38. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
A premium they did not need to pay, JT Tuimoloau a notch or two before his time. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
The board screamed and they did not listen, reaching into the next round for Donovan Ezeiruaku. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
They let Jihaad Campbell come to them and pounced at pick 49. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
A clean, defensible pick in pick No. 54 with a little surplus value in Aireontae Ersery. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Luther Burden III at Round 2, Pick 23 is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Maxwell Hairston at the 57th pick is a conviction pick that outran the value. A minor itch, scratched.
A quiet steal in Round 2, Pick 31: Trey Amos for less than the market said. A want dressed up as a pick, at a spot they had covered.
A straight-up fair deal on Tate Ratledge at pick No. 68, value and slot in agreement. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
A big swing on Dylan Fairchild at the Round 3 slot, well ahead of any board in the building. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Darien Porter at No. 80 is a sound buy, the sort that quietly helps a class. They added to a strength when a need was still open elsewhere.
Value with a capital V on Jayden Higgins in the 81st overall pick, a genuine coup. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
A reach on Cam Skattebo in pick 86; the board had better options right there. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
They talked themselves into Antwaun Powell-Ryland at slot 87, and the board did not agree. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
They stopped a slide they were happy to see, landing Carson Schwesinger in the 93rd pick. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
They will replay Elijah Arroyo at the 99th overall pick for years; that is how good the value is. The roster fit checks out.
A wild overpay on Ty Robinson in slot 110, the sort that defines a class for the wrong reasons. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
They paid sticker price for Kyle McCord in No. 114, and that is fine. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Value said wait; Willie Lampkin in pick 118 says they were not listening. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Bhayshul Tuten at pick No. 128 is a steep price for a hunch, hard to square with any board. It fills a real need, too.
By-the-book stuff, Jamaree Caldwell at Round 4, Pick 28 squarely in line with his ranking. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
They reached into another round for Shaun Dolac, and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
A tidy bit of business in the 133rd overall pick, where Billy Bowman Jr. graded well above the range. A quiet depth add at a thin-ish spot.
A market-rate wide receiver, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Nick Nash. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
They barely believed it either: Connor Colby still on the board at pick 198. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.