Arizona Cardinals: One realistic blockbuster trade proposal

Arizona Cardinals general manager Steve Keim is a magician when it comes to making blockbuster trades. Here is one he should try for. 

While building through the NFL Draft and using trades and free agency is the preferred method, Steve Keim has done a sound job building the Arizona Cardinals through trades. Therefore, the proposed trade below, or something similar, would come as no surprise to me if he a) pulled it off, and b) saw sound returns.

This is a trade that would take two younger defensive players who haven’t quite performed to expectations and give them fresh starts. You will also see the swapping of a few draft picks, plus two veteran players in what would be a blockbuster, yet realistic trade before the November 1st deadline.

Blockbuster trade proposal between the Arizona Cardinals and Broncos

This trade involves two young players in Bradley Chubb and Isaiah Simmons, neither of whom have lived up to expectations. Simmons is nowhere near as good as many in the Red Sea want to believe he is, having become more of a player who puts together between two and three subpar performances for every big game he has.

Chubb has 5.5 sacks on the season, but he has not played a full season since his rookie year in 2018. While he has been resurgent this season with four tackles behind the line and eight quarterback hits, the Broncos are looking more and more like a team that would be playing for a top ten pick (their 2023 first round pick was traded to Seattle), especially with Russell Wilson being sidelined with a partially torn hamstring.

This trade will at least let the Broncos salvage some of their poor return on the Wilson deal with a second round pick. While I do believe Denver will want to get a first round pick out of this trade, Chubb’s injury history and lack of production in 2021 may force them to settle for a second.

However, if the Cardinals must give up a first, Keim should consider doing so. Keim has, at best, been stagnant with first round draft picks, and Chubb is still young enough to warrant one.

As you can see, I also decided for the two teams to swap Melvin Gordon and James Conner. Gordon has not performed as well in regard to expectations this season, and he appears to be frustrated with the Broncos. Conner has been a complete bust in his second season with Arizona, and adding him to this trade will be the best way to give him a fresh start elsewhere.

Gordon would be a great addition to a running back committee that, at the moment, features a lot of youth. An older back, Gordon would also make a sound mentor for the third-year Eno Benjamin and rookie Keaontay Ingram.

(Statistics provided by Pro-Football-Reference)