3 players the Arizona Cardinals should trade before Week 1 in 2023

3 - Isaiah Simmons, S

Last season, I was a huge advocate for trading Isaiah Simmons at the deadline while he still had value, but that didn’t happen and he landed with the new coaching staff. That staff has since tried converting Simmons to safety, where he has been arguably the Arizona Cardinals worst starter slash priority role player across the first two weeks of preseason. 

Fortunately for the Cardinals, Simmons’ overall athletic ability will pique someone’s interest, and it shouldn’t surprise anyone if they overcompensated for the underachieving former first round pick. This isn’t to say the Cards would get a first or even a second, but a pair of mid-rounders, even a third round pick, isn’t out of the question.

I’ve heard some say that the Redbirds should have experimented with Simmons at EDGE, and it was something I talked about last season. However, at this point, don’t expect Simmons to play EDGE for the Cardinals - he is a safety in this system and they will try to make him one. Unless they do the right thing and try to move him while he remotely still has value.

Update: One hour after the writing of this article, the Cards must have seen enough of Simmons, and traded him for a seventh round pick to the New York Giants. Needless to say, I was way off in that above projection!