Arizona Cardinals are trying to create a trade market for No. 33 overall

The Arizona Cardinals may be attempting to trade down in the second round.

Byron Murphy wasn’t supposed to fall to the second round. The Washington product was widely considered worthy of a top-32 pick and earned best cornerback grades from many. The Arizona Cardinals may be trying to exploit that, as some believe they leaked plans to draft him in order to create a market.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Murphy is the “heavy favorite” to go to the Cardinals at No. 33 after his colleague Chris Mortenson said the that Murphy would be “a very happy young man” shortly into the second round.

Although the Cardinals could use a talent like Murphy, they have bigger holes to fill on the roster included the offensive line and wide receiver groupings. Combine their team needs with a rare pick leak, and this starts to look like a smokescreen for a team to trade up to get the talented corner.

Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio wrote about the situation and gave us a bit more information. He said, according to his source that

"They [the Cardinals] leaked “firm confirmation” of their plans at No. 33 to ESPN in order to spark a market for Murphy."

This doesn’t come as much of a surprise. Although Murphy is a talented prospect and would be a good choice, the Cardinals have holes to fill at the No. 33 selection is a valuable pick. The team is attempting to garner interest in hopes of adding another early round pick to fill those needs.

However, if Murphy is indeed the pick, Cardinals fans should be elated. He’s a day-one starter at either outside or nickel and hails from Scottsdale, Arizona.