Arizona Cardinals News & Rumors

The Panthers’ Week 15 win over the Falcons brought the Patriots and Cardinals, who each lost, one game closer to the No. 1 overall pick. New England’s weaker strength of schedule provides keeps Arizona in the No. 3 spot, while Washington — weeks away from a likely full-scale reboot — has lost five straight to move into position for its first top-five pick since 2020.

Early reports have the Bears more likely to draft Justin Fields‘ replacement than trading a top pick once again, but the Patriots and Cardinals are still in the running for what could well be the Caleb Williams draft slot. Much less drama would emerge if New England claimed the top pick, as the Patriots would be expected to draft the top QB prize. Arizona landing atop the draft for the second time in six years could produce a derby, with Kyler Murray‘s contract difficult (but not impossible) to move for new GM Monti Ossenfort. QB-needy teams may well be hoping the Cardinals land one of the top two spots, however, providing a potential gateway to a trade-up for Williams or Drake Maye.

The Raiders’ 63-21 demolition of the Chargers slid them down six spots compared to their position last week. The Packers also climbed eight spots from their slot going into Week 15. Green Bay has not held a top-11 draft choice since it drafted B.J. Raji in the 2009 first round; that came on the heels of Aaron Rodgers‘ first season at the helm. Jordan Love‘s QB1 debut season could still produce a playoff berth, however, and the rest of the NFC and AFC wild-card races remain tightly bunched.

Here is how the 2024 draft order looks with three regular-season games to play:

1. Chicago Bears (via Panthers)
2. New England Patriots: 3-11
3. Arizona Cardinals: 3-11
4. Washington Commanders: 4-10
5. Chicago Bears: 5-9
6. New York Giants: 5-9
7. New York Jets: 5-9
8. Los Angeles Chargers: 5-9
9. Tennessee Titans: 5-9
10. Atlanta Falcons: 6-8
11. Green Bay Packers: 6-8
12. Las Vegas Raiders: 6-8
13. New Orleans Saints: 7-7
14. Denver Broncos: 7-7
15. Seattle Seahawks: 7-7
16. Pittsburgh Steelers: 7-7
17. Arizona Cardinals (via Texans)
18. Buffalo Bills: 8-6
19. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 7-7
20. Minnesota Vikings: 7-7
21. Los Angeles Rams: 7-7
22. Indianapolis Colts: 8-6
23. Jacksonville Jaguars: 8-6
24. Cincinnati Bengals: 8-6
25. Kansas City Chiefs: 9-5
26. Houston Texans (via Browns)
27. Detroit Lions: 10-4
28. Philadelphia Eagles: 10-4
29. Miami Dolphins: 10-4
30. Dallas Cowboys: 10-4
31. Baltimore Ravens: 11-3
32. San Francisco 49ers: 11-3

Two different teams have held the No. 1 overall pick in consecutive years since 2017. Amid a radical rebuild effort, the Browns carried the top pick into the 2017 and ’18 drafts. The Jaguars did the same in 2021 and ’22. It is possible the Bears will follow that up in back-to-back years. The big difference here would be the Bears traded the 2023 top choice and may unload the 2024 top pick for another windfall, depending on their evaluation of Justin Fields.

The Bears and Panthers’ March trade, giving Carolina access to Bryce Young, has become a seminal moment for both teams. As it stands now, Chicago holds two top-five picks. The Panthers are 1-12, giving the Bears a two-game lead on the Patriots and Cardinals for the top slot with four games left. Chicago finishing with the first overall selection, providing access to the quarterback of its choice, would create a big-picture decision for a Bears team that already passed on the 2023 quarterback class to stick with Fields — a QB the Ryan Poles regime did not draft. North Carolina’s Drake Maye has declared for the draft, while USC’s Caleb Williams is widely expected to follow suit.

A new Cardinals regime is also evaluating its QB, though Kyler Murray‘s $46.1MM-per-year contract (which runs through 2028) will be much harder to escape compared to Fields’. This creates an interesting scenario that will have teams who do not land two-two draft slots monitoring how Chicago and Arizona proceed. The Patriots are widely expected to pursue a quarterback in the draft, and they are likely to do so without Bill Belichick.

With gridlock forming in the AFC and NFC wild-card races, considerable movement will take place over the next month. The winner of the NFC South will likely lose several spots in the ’24 draft, as the Buccaneers did this year by winning the ’22 division title at 8-9. Here is how the draft order looks going into Week 15:

1. Chicago Bears (via Panthers)
2. New England Patriots: 3-10
3. Arizona Cardinals: 3-10
4. Washington Commanders: 4-9
5. Chicago Bears: 5-8
6. Las Vegas Raiders: 5-8
7. New York Jets: 5-8
8. New York Giants: 5-8
9. Tennessee Titans: 5-8
10. Los Angeles Chargers: 5-8
11. Atlanta Falcons: 6-7
12. New Orleans Saints: 6-7
13. Seattle Seahawks: 6-7
14. Los Angeles Rams: 6-7
15. Denver Broncos: 7-6
16. Arizona Cardinals (via Texans)
17. Buffalo Bills: 7-6
18. Cincinnati Bengals: 7-6
19. Green Bay Packers: 6-7
20. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 6-7
21. Indianapolis Colts: 7-6
22. Minnesota Vikings: 7-6
23. Pittsburgh Steelers: 7-6
24. Houston Texans (via Browns)
25. Kansas City Chiefs: 8-5
26. Jacksonville Jaguars: 8-5
27. Detroit Lions: 9-4
28. Philadelphia Eagles: 10-3
29. Miami Dolphins: 9-4
30. Dallas Cowboys: 10-3
31. San Francisco 49ers: 10-3
32. Baltimore Ravens: 10-3