An early Monday morning trade for the Arizona Cardinals of running back Kenyan Drake left some people scratching their heads
The trade deadline was supposed to come and go without much noise. Well, the Arizona Cardinals made some noise on Monday morning in a trade with the Miami Dolphins for running back Kenyan Drake.
It wasn’t an expected move, at least from this end of things. What it does though is leaves some questions, one of which was answered mid-day Monday, hours after the trade was announced, that Chase Edmonds may miss a few weeks.
The Cardinals contend the injury wasn’t necessarily the reason as talks were already being had prior to the Edmonds injury on Sunday against the New Orleans Saints. So that leads to us wondering what is going on with David Johnson?
Johnson has already been ruled out for Thursday night against the San Francisco 49ers. He missed most of the game last week against the New York Giants and the Saints game on Sunday.
Zach Zenner, who was signed last week along with Alfred Morris, played after Edmonds left the game. He had just 1 carry that gained no yards and 1 reception for 13-yards. Morris was inactive.
Expect Drake to be the starter on Thursday night with D.J. Foster going on injured reserve Monday as well. Drake was traded for a conditional 6th rounder in 2020.
If the thought was Johnson would return soon, why the move for Drake if Zenner and Morris were in the fold? Some see it as a pick the Cardinals might not do much with anyway. Some see it as a wasted pick on a guy that could be a rental since his contract is expiring at the end of the 2019 season.
The thing is, the Cardinals might not be going to the playoffs this year, however they still have the goal of winning football games. They are in a re-build but not a tanking situation.
If the Cardinals are able to see the Drake trade work out and then be able to extend him, along with Johnson and Edmonds in the fold for 2020, then they may have a very formidable 3-headed running back monster next year.