3 reasons why the Arizona Cardinals only got a seventh round pick for Simmons

3 - Tanking after all?

This is the least-likeliest scenario, but you can’t necessarily call Isaiah Simmons a bust. Sure, he underachieved for an eighth overall pick, but Simmons produced well enough for one to think he would at least be worth the mid rounder I mentioned in a previous article. 

But to give up a seventh could mean that general manager Monti Ossenfort doesn’t care about winning this season, and he just wanted to take any offer given to him regardless of what it was. I can’t stress enough that this is a highly unlikely scenario, but when you pair this with the fact the ineffective Colt McCoy could be the Cardinals starter on September 10th, it makes you stop and think. 

You might claim that the Cards would be tanking better by keeping Simmons thanks to the way he looked in preseason. While that could wind up as true, it’s still important to remember Simmons was no bust, and he played major roles in two of the Cardinals four wins last season.

Regardless, we can only speculate as to why Simmons went to New York for a seventh round pick. We probably won’t get behind-the-scenes access like we did with the draft day trade that landed Paris Johnson. But we can assume that one of the three above scenarios likely contributed to the trade.