Cardinals secure No. 16 overall pick in 2025 NFL Draft

The Arizona Cardinals earned the No. 16 overall pick in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft after their season ended with a 47-24 win against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.

Arizona finished the campaign with an 8-9 record, good for third place in the NFC West. With a loss on Sunday, the Cardinals would have climbed to the No. 12 overall pick, as five teams finished with seven or eight wins in a clumped middle section of the NFL standings.

The Cardinals entered Week 18 tied with the Dallas Cowboys and Indianapolis Colts at 7-9. Arizona had the tougher strength of schedule — the top tiebreaker — and therefore opened Sunday picking behind the Cowboys and Colts. Indianapolis defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars in overtime, and the Cowboys lost to the Washington Commanders.

The top 18 picks of the NFL Draft are officially locked in 🔒 pic.twitter.com/9bCTJNkPde

— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) January 6, 2025

The Miami Dolphins and Atlanta Falcons were 8-8 entering meaningful games to their playoff chances, but they both lost and jumped ahead of the Cardinals in the draft order.

The Cardinals earned top-four picks in each of the previous two seasons, trading back from No. 3 (and then back up to No. 6) in 2023 for tackle Paris Johnson Jr. and selecting wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. No. 4 overall last April.

General manager Monti Ossenfort enters his third offseason building the team, which doubled its win total from the previous two seasons (4-13).

The Cardinals have five of their own picks in the upcoming draft, one in each of the first five rounds. They traded their 2025 sixth-round pick to the Denver Broncos for linebacker Baron Browning this season and sent their 2025 seventh-rounder to the Carolina Panthers for wide receiver Chosen Anderson during the 2022 season (a Steve Keim trade). The team also dealt defensive end Cameron Thomas to the Kansas City Chiefs for a 2025 seventh-rounder before this season started.

Arizona will have other means to improve the team, as it enters the offseason with the fourth most cap space in the NFL at $89.4 million, per OverTheCap. It already extended safety Budda Baker, running back James Conner, center Hjalte Froholdt and linebacker Zaven Collins.

Who has the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft?

The Tennessee Titans are on the clock with a 3-14 record. The New England Patriots were in position to lock up the top pick with a loss on Sunday, but they defeated the resting Buffalo Bills and fell to the fourth pick.

The Cleveland Browns have the second overall pick, and the New York Giants are in the third slot.

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