ESPN’s Schefter suggests Cardinals could draft QB Murray, trade Rosen

For the sake of avoiding spreading fake news, please read the headline as it is: a suggestion by ESPN news-breaker Adam Schefter.

Now with that said, Schefter knows the NFL well and he has ideas. His idea this time around — as wild as it sounds — brings up good points even though it’s 9,287 steps away from coming to fruition a day after the Arizona Cardinals introduced head coach Kliff Kingsbury.

What prompted Schefter to suggest (again, not report) that Arizona could consider drafting Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray and trading current quarterback Josh Rosen comes from an October interview with Kingsbury that resurfaced Wednesday.

“I’d take him with the first pick in the draft if I could,” the then-Texas Tech head coach said of Murray, then doubling down on that statement. “I know he signed up to play baseball, but he is a dominant football player and I would take him with the first pick.”

In October 2018, Kliff Kingsbury said he would take Kyler Murray as the first pick of the NFL draft if he could.

There's a San Francisco Chronicle report that he's expected to declare and Kingsbury's @AZCardinals are first on the clock 👀 pic.twitter.com/ERF1lFz5qg

— ESPN (@espn) January 10, 2019

Now that Murray has reportedly decided to surprise everyone by entering the NFL Draft after he appeared to be set on a pro baseball career, Kingsbury’s comments from October are being rehashed.

Schefter, joining Get Up! on ESPN, was asked about the possibility that Arizona drafts Murray despite already having a franchise quarterback on the roster.

“The one thing about the NFL is that quarterbacks are currency,” Schefter said. “I can tell you this: that last year, when the Cleveland Browns had the first and fourth overall picks, at one point in time — I know people would be skeptical of this — they considered taking quarterbacks at one and four and then auctioning off one of the quarterbacks that they liked less.

“So if you’re the Arizona Cardinals and you like Kyler Murray that much — it’s hard to imagine him going No. 1 overall — maybe there’s a scenario where you get him and then you auction off Josh Rosen. If that’s what the (coach) likes, that’s what he wants, why would you not acquiesce to that when you can get a king’s ransom for Josh Rosen, who some teams really like? Again, we’re getting things started here really early and really putting things out there, but it’s not implausible that that scenario could unfold.”

Cardinals HC Kliff Kingsbury says he wants to draft Kyler Murray No. 1 overall … @AdamSchefter says it's possible. pic.twitter.com/1sMPWk0DdY

— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) January 10, 2019

A few thoughts before moving forward.

– The Cardinals have the first overall pick and the No. 33 pick. According to ESPN’s news story about Murray’s decision to enter the NFL Draft, an NFL general manager was trying to convince Schefter that Murray is only a late first-round pick. So Murray going in the top-10 is a major stretch at this moment, before the NFL Combine.

– In a weak quarterback draft that saw Oregon’s Justin Herbert return to school, it’s Ohio State’s Dwayne Haskins who is likely the top quarterback on the board, and he’s only potentially sneaking into the top-10. Again, that’s of this moment.

– The teams with the top six picks have franchise quarterbacks, unless the rebuilding Oakland Raiders (No. 3) trade veteran Derek Carr. It’s hard to imagine anyone reaching for a quarterback until we’re a handful of picks into the draft.

– Oakland looks like the most appealing trade partner for Arizona with three first-round picks.

It’s here where we see that what Schefter is presenting is more about how creative the Cardinals can get with their No. 1 pick.

With several options along the defensive and offensive lines atop most mock drafts, perhaps Arizona can still get their man by trading down a few spots and picking up a late first-round pick and more.

Realistically, this is where it gets intriguing for Arizona, and that’s even possible without thinking about trading Rosen.

Instead of trading down to draft a lineman, they could potentially pick a quarterback — Haskins at No. 3 or Murray with a late first-round pick — and it’s there where they would then field offers for either to create a bidding war.

That would be the appeal for the Cardinals. They could multiply a No. 1 overall pick into not only a few more first- and/or second-day draft picks but a few more after that if they select a quarterback of another team’s future.

Or, maybe Murray is still on the board at No. 33 when the Cardinals lead off the second round of the draft. Could trading that pick draft yield more selections?

In any case, Kingsbury was doing good work as a Cardinals head coach before he was the Cardinals head coach.

Multiple people tell me the Cardinals’ interest in Kyler Murray is just about leverage to trade down from the first pick.
Do you folks realize this is all driven by comments Kliff Kingsbury made in October, long before the Cardinals got the first pick and he became their coach?

— Michael David Smith (@MichaelDavSmith) January 10, 2019

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