ESPN’s Sando: Michael Floyd to Rams is draft trade that should happen
Apr 13, 2016, 12:34 PM | Updated: 4:38 pm
Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Michael Floyd (15) makes a catch as Green Bay Packers cornerback Damarious Randall (23) defends during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 27, 2015, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
(AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
Since being chosen with the 13th pick in the 2012 NFL Draft, Michael Floyd has been one of the more intriguing and at times frustrating players on the Arizona Cardinals.
In four seasons he has caught 209 passes for 3,293 yards and 19 touchdowns. He’s shown flashes of dominance along with an inability make a consistent impact, and has never quite been able to take over as the team’s No. 1 receiving option.
Just last season, he posted five games with more than 100 yards but had an equal amount of outings in which he notched fewer than 20.
Now 26, Floyd is set to enter the final year of his rookie contract and become an unrestricted free agent in 2017, and a year from now could be commanding a pretty hefty salary.
Will he be worth it?
Perhaps, though it’s possible no matter what he does in 2016, the Cardinals may view him as too expensive to keep around going forward. Because of that — and the team’s lack of a second-round pick in this year’s draft due the trade that brought them Chandler Jones — ESPN’s Mike Sando, in an Insider piece presenting draft-related trades he thinks should happen, lists Floyd to the Los Angeles Rams for their second-round pick (43rd overall).
The Cardinals’ move to acquire Chandler Jones from New England left Arizona as one of two teams without a second-round choice in 2016. Philadelphia is the other, but the Eagles have a pair of third-rounders to fill the void. Arizona does not. The Rams have an extra second-round choice from the Sam Bradford trade last offseason. They also need a big wide receiver with greater upside and reliability than Brian Quick offers. Floyd would give them that.
This trade could make sense for Arizona if the Cardinals felt unsure about Floyd’s future with the team beyond 2016, which is the final year of his contract. Is Floyd a clear-cut No. 1 receiver the team wants to pay at that level? Is he a player Arizona feels it absolutely needs to win a championship? Floyd has averaged 50 receptions for 845 yards and six touchdowns over the past two seasons.
It’s not difficult to believe the Cardinals would like to add a pick to make up for the one they lost, but doing so at the expense of sending Floyd to a division rival may be a bit much given their Super Bowl hopes. Sure, the team may lose him next offseason, but the team’s window is now and that is probably a risk they are willing to take.
Besides, with fellow wideout Larry Fitzgerald’s contract set to expire after this season, the Cardinals may want to give Floyd one more chance to prove he is the player the team thought it was getting back in 2012.
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