Cardinals’ Bidwill: We like about a dozen guys at No. 29

Michael Bidwill is not going to tell anyone who the Arizona Cardinals would like to draft Thursday night.

Even if he wanted to, there’s really no way for he or anyone else in the organization to know which players will be available when they are on the clock at pick No 29.

“We like about a dozen guys, and we’ll see where we end up,” the team’s president told Doug and Wolf on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM Thursday morning. “But there are some great players that we think may end up being there and if they’re not, we could potentially trade back. We could trade up.

“We’re keeping all options on the table; we want to be flexible and try to make the right decision at the right time given the circumstances we’re presented with later this evening.”

Even now as draft day is here, no one is sure of what will transpire ahead of the Cardinals’ pick, and therefore it is difficult to even try to predict what they might do.

The latest mock drafts have them looking at Florida defensive end Jonathan Bullard, Mississippi defensive lineman Robert Nkemdiche and Baylor defensive lineman Andrew Billings as well as Michigan State quarterback Connor Cook, Eastern Kentucky linebacker Noah Spence or Clemson defensive back T.J. Green. There are plenty of other names being linked to the Cardinals, too.

In short, your guess is as good as anyone’s, and then of course there is the possibility of the team trading from the spot.

Just two years ago the Cardinals swung a deal to move down from pick No. 20 in order to nab the 27th overall selection as well as an extra third-round pick, and general manager Steve Keim has shown a willingness to make trades in his three years running the draft. Few would be surprised if the team went that route again, and if none of the dozen players Bidwill mentioned are on the board when the Cardinals are on the clock, a deal would seem like a certainty.

Bidwill said any trade talks would generally start before the Cardinals are up, adding he’s unsure if any of the roughly 12 or so players his team has its eye on will be available to them.

“There’s some great players that are going to go before us, but if one of those guys falls we’re excited to take them,” he said. “In any case, trades don’t happen as quickly as you might think; it’s not like a light switch that you can just flip on and call somebody and all of a sudden they say yes. You need two parties and a lot of times it’s multiple phone calls and some negotiations back and forth, and you’re faced with a clock that you can run out of time.

“So we try to start a little bit early and if there’s interest there’s interest, but we’re also prepared that if we don’t get a trade done, you take the pick.”

Follow @theAdamGreen