Cardinals trade Kyler Murray in ESPN mock draft

The Arizona Cardinals are set to enter year six under Kyler Murray. Or are they? If Mike Tannenbaum of ESPN had it his way, Murray would be shipped off this offseason and the Cardinals would hit the reset button at the quarterback position.

Tannenbaum had the Cardinals trading Murray to the Minnesota Vikings in his latest mock draft. After Murray was sent off, Tannenbaum then had Arizona nabbing Michigan's J.J. McCarthy with the fourth overall pick while also getting the 11th overall pick in return. The Vikings get Murray and the 66th overall pick.

"I drafted J.J. McCarthy at No. 4 to take over under center for Arizona, so Murray becomes a trade candidate and Minnesota is still searching for QB answers after missing out on the top four passers in the class. I don't love the scheme fit for Oregon's Bo Nix in Minnesota, and it's too early for Washington's Michael Penix Jr.

So here's my proposition to clear some cap space for the Cards, officially start the McCarthy era in Arizona and fix the Vikings' QB issue. In my mind, the No. 11 pick for Murray straight up is too rich, and No. 23 -- Minnesota's other first-rounder -- on its own is not enough. So I'm attaching that third-rounder to the No. 11 pick to level this out. It's similar to what the Cardinals did during the 2022 draft, when they traded their first-round pick (No. 23) to Baltimore for receiver Marquise Brown and a third-rounder."

- Mike Tannenbaum

Cardinals move on from Kyler Murray in mock draft

This would certainly be newsworthy. Not only would it entail a former first overall quarterback getting traded to a new team but the Cardinals would then be starting over at the most important position in the sport. Murray has had injuries over the past few years and that's what prompted Tannenbaum to make this hypothetical trade.

This is the time of year where outlets are going for hot takes and this is the hottest of takes when it comes to what the Cardinals would do with the fourth overall pick. Realistically, they're either going to stand pat and take Marvin Harrison Jr. or trade it to the Vikings, who then might take McCarthy in that spot.

If this trade did happen, however, the Vikings would solve their quarterback woes after Kirk Cousins departed for Atlanta this offseason. The Cardinals would then be back to the drawing board and hoping that McCarthy is as good as his recent draft stock indicates.