The Arizona Cardinals front office may have acquired damaged goods when they orchestrated a trade for cornerback Trayvon Mullen.
After months of standing pat, the Arizona Cardinals finally made an addition to the cornerback position last month. Unfortunately, it appears that general manager Steve Keim may have acquired damaged goods.
In desperate need of a starting cover guy, the Cards front office sent a conditional seventh-round draft pick to the Las Vegas Raiders for Trayvon Mullen. According to what head coach Kliff Kingsbury told the press on Wednesday, it’s looking fairly certain that the 24-year old Mullen will miss his second-consecutive game with a toe injury.
There’s actually been no update on the situation since that assessment, but Kingsbury seems to be preparing for at least another week without the talented Mullen.
Arizona Cardinals need cornerback Trayvon Mullen to get healthy in a hurry
The fact that Mullen is having problems with his toe is a bit concerning. It was the exact same issue that kept the 6 foot 2, 200 pounder out of the Raiders’ final four matchups last season. Could that be the reason that Las Vegas gave up on Mullen after just three campaigns?
Many fans of the “Silver and Black” were surprised when Mullen was shipped to the Cardinals. The fact that Keim was able to land a starting cornerback for a last-round draft choice made the deal even more perplexing.
Arizona desperately needs Mullen to get healthy as soon as possible. Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes shredded the Redbirds’ secondary for 360 yards and five touchdown tosses last Sunday.
Things won’t get any easier for the “Big Red” coverage unit in Week 2. Raiders signal-caller Derek Carr has stud pass-catchers like Davante Adams, Darren Waller and Hunter Renfrow at his disposal. Mullen could’ve been in revenge mode this week against the franchise who traded him, but his Cardinals debut will more than likely be delayed.
Keim has made several outstanding trades over the last nine years, but the latest one doesn’t look promising. Mullen can change all of that by getting on the field and providing the Cards with the excellent cornerback play that they so desperately need.
(Statistics provided by ESPN NFL scores)