5 absolute best trades in the history of the Arizona Cardinals
By Sion Fawkes
1998 NFL Draft
In the 1998 NFL Draft, the Cardinals had the second overall pick. However, the San Diego Chargers coveted Ryan Leaf or Peyton Manning, and they offered the Cardinals a ransom of players and draft picks such as Eric Metcalf, a first-round pick in 1999 (David Boston), and of course, the third overall pick, which they used to select Andre Wadsworth.
No, neither Boston nor Wadsworth had memorable careers. But hey, at least the Cardinals got more out of them than the Chargers did out of Ryan Leaf.
Wadsworth had a decent rookie season, notching 52 combined tackles and five sacks before injuries took their toll. Boston earned First-Team All-Pro Honors and a Pro Bowl appearance in 2001.
Meanwhile, Leaf led the Chargers to a 4-14 record when he was healthy enough to play and threw for 13 touchdowns and 33 interceptions during that timespan.
While the Cardinals drafted Jake Plummer the season before, perhaps they would have found Leaf too tempting had they turned down the Chargers’ offer. Thankfully, we’ll never find out.