The Arizona Cardinals should be an interesting team to watch during the 2026 NFL Draft. Arizona enters the draft with the third overall pick, which they should use on a blue chip defensive player. But the Cardinals are also rumored to be interested in trading up for Alabama QB Ty Simpson late in the first round.
ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. added more buzz to the Simpson rumors in Arizona during his final mock draft of the offseason. He predicted that Arizona will trade back into the first round with Miami to grab Simpson.
“The Kyler Murray era is over, but I’m not putting a lot of stock in Jacoby Brissett and Gardner Minshew being anything more than bridge options. The Cardinals could absolutely wait until 2027 to find their next franchise QB, and this small trade up at the end of Round 1 wouldn’t keep them from doing so anyway. But there’s an opportunity for Arizona to land a talented passer at good value.”
Kiper has Arizona giving up the 34th and 65th overall picks for the 30th and 94th overall picks.
It is easy to understand they hype around the Cardinals grabbing a new quarterback. Neither Brissett nor Minshew inspire much confidence, and head coach Mike LaFleur shouldn’t want to waste his first season with subpar quarterback play.
Kiper noted that Simpson only started 15 games at Alabama, which is not a strong sample size. But Simpson is also an accurate passer with a high football IQ and decent mobility. He could easily succeed in the NFL because of those traits.
This trade ends up working out for both sides, as Miami lands Alabama wide receiver Germie Bernard with Arizona’s second-round pick.
It will be exciting to see if there’s any truth to these Simpson trade rumors during the draft.
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