ESPN’s Barnwell proposes Cardinals trade for Jabrill Peppers at deadline

An undefeated start to the season for the Arizona Cardinals has the team in an ideal position to acquire assets ahead of the NFL’s trade deadline.

ESPN’s Bill Barnwell has the Cardinals as a buyer in one of his 10 proposed trades. His goal was to be realistic while proposing trades that can benefit both teams in the deal.

Barnwell proposed a trade between the Cardinals and the New York Giants that would see Arizona picking up safety Jabrill Peppers in exchange for a sixth-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.

Peppers has seen a reduction in his playing time in the first six weeks of the season. He played in 80% of the Giants’ defensive snaps only twice this season, including last week’s 38-11 loss against the Los Angeles Rams. He played every defensive snap in eight games last season and more than 90% in another five games.

Barnwell likes Peppers in two different areas for the Cardinals. First is his athletic abilities, something that is highly regarded in Arizona’s organization.

We know both general manager Steve Keim and defensive coordinator Vance Joseph love adding great athletes on defense and relying on them to fly around the football field, independent of position. Peppers has seen his role reduced for the Giants this season, and he’s probably best used as a hybrid linebacker/safety.

Peppers has also been used selectively in New York’s special teams. While he only has four punt returns this season for the Giants, Peppers averaged 12.47 yards per punt return on 15 returns last season.

Barnwell wrote that acquiring Peppers may open up other avenues for Arizona rookie Rondale Moore.

The Cardinals have used Rondale Moore as their primary return man, and while the rookie second-round pick is a threat to make a house call whenever he touches the football, he had a significant track record of injuries in college at Purdue. The Cards have only uses Moore on 42.9% of their offensive snaps so far. Giving Peppers some of the return duties might make them more comfortable with giving Moore a larger offensive role.

Peppers is currently in the final year of his contract with the Giants, taking up $6,770,000 in cap space, according to Spotrac.

The Cardinals currently have $1,929,835 in cap space, according to Over the Cap.

Trading away a sixth-round pick, as proposed by Barnwell, may offer little risk to the Cardinals. Only 12 sixth-round selections since the 2010 draft have gone on to be Pro Bowlers, with 10 of them drafted from 2010-2013. The other two sixth-round Pro Bowlers came from the 2015 draft.