The Arizona Cardinals used a fifth-round pick in the 2019 supplemental draft on Wednesday to select Washington State safety Jalen Thompson. In doing so, they forfeit a fifth-round pick in the 2020 draft.
Essentially, they are using the pick almost a year early.
However, the Cardinals still have a fifth-round pick in 2020. They had an extra pick in that round to play with. They acquired a 2020 fifth-round pick from the Miami Dolphins as part of the Josh Rosen trade on Day 2 of the draft.
With the extra pick in hand, it made sense to target a defensive back that viably could have been selected higher in a year, even though Thompson was going to be unable to play his final season at Washington State, as he was ruled ineligible.
They land a guy now and still have a fifth-round pick in a year, which could be higher than the one they are forfeiting.
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