B
Arizona Cardinals
The Cardinals won the weekend at the trade table. Grade: B.
by test ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 40 picks
· 16 steals
· 20 reaches
You can hear the double-takes from here. The Cardinals took Collin Oliver at slot 175, roughly 116 spots before his name belonged.
However the rest shakes out, Johnson at that price is a win they earned. The dealing alone would carry a lesser class.
The roster is better shaped than it was, with quarterback chief among the fixes.
Bottom line, more hits than misses and a roster nudged the right way.
Pick-by-Pick
In slot 25 they get a disruptive interior force. A real need, handled.
They paid a round early for Donovan Ezeiruaku in No. 58, more than the board wanted. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
A market-rate offensive lineman, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Armand Membou. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Deone Walker is a better player than pick No. 78 suggests; smart patience, rewarded. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
The board had cheaper options than Luke Kandra at the Round 3 slot, and it noticed. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Circle this one: Jihaad Campbell at Round 3, Pick 31 is a fall that decides a draft. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
Hollin Pierce at No. 113 is a sensible buy, a touch better than market for the offensive lineman. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
The board fumbled Aeneas Peebles all the way to pick No. 117, and they scooped it up. It fills a real need, too.
Value said wait; Que Robinson in slot 119 says they were not listening. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
A premium they did not need to pay, Jason Marshall Jr. a notch or two before his time. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
Somehow Kevin Winston Jr. was still sitting there in the 121st pick, and they pounced on premier safety value. A quiet depth add at a thin-ish spot.
They stopped a slide they were happy to see, landing Savion Williams in the Round 4 slot. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
A swing that ignored the value entirely, Ty Robinson well ahead of where he belonged. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Taking Kaleb Johnson in pick 126 is close to grand larceny; a running back that good had no business lasting this long. The roster fit checks out.
They let Kyren Lacy come to them and pounced at No. 130. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
A wild overpay on Jonah Monheim in pick 132, the sort that defines a class for the wrong reasons. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Lathan Ransom at the 133rd pick is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. Nice player, but the depth chart did not need him here.
Mason Taylor at the Round 4 slot is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. A need, and now a little less of one.
This one needs a full-page explanation: JJ Pegues in pick No. 138, miles early. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
Carson Schwesinger slipping to the 139th overall pick is the kind of luck good rooms make for themselves. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Trey Moore at slot 151 is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
The board screamed and they did not listen, reaching into the next round for Kevin Jennings. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Cam Skattebo in pick 158 is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
They left a pile of value on the table to take Antwane Wells Jr. this early at the 159th pick. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Dorian Strong at pick No. 163 is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. Stacking talent where they were already deep.
Collin Oliver in slot 175 is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Nice patience on Connor Colby, who had no business lasting to the 183rd overall pick. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
O'Donnell Fortune in Round 6, Pick 14 is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. Pure best-available; the position was not exactly begging.
Nick Nash at the Round 6 slot is a steep price for a hunch, hard to square with any board. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
They talked themselves into Xzavier Henderson at No. 196, and the board did not agree. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Thor Griffith at the Round 6 slot is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
Seth McLaughlin at No. 214 is money in the bank, a offensive lineman taken below his worth. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
A big swing on Tyler Batty at Round 7, Pick 3, well ahead of any board in the building. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
You do not let an offensive lineman like Addison West reach pick No. 223 and blink. They did not. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
The board had Jared Wilson higher than the 224th overall pick, and the offensive lineman fell to them anyway. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
They reached into another round for Deion Burks, and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Garrett Dellinger at the 231st pick is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
A real head-scratcher, Cooper Mays in slot 237 is miles ahead of his ranking. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
They reached a country mile for Jamaree Caldwell at the 241st pick, and the board is aghast. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
A slide stopped in No. 250, with Alijah Clark worth more than the price. A want dressed up as a pick, at a spot they had covered.