The Arizona Cardinals made what many considered a surprising move, acquiring running back Kenyan Drake via trade from the Miami Dolphins for a 2020 Day 3 draft pick. Many have criticized the move.
The main reason is because the move appears to be the type that competing teams make to try and get better. The Cardinals are a last-place team with a losing record and Drake isn’t going to make them a playoff-contending team.
Drake is a free agent at the end of the season, so the trade is essentially for an eight-game rental, as well, and the Cardinals give up a draft pick they could use to add talent to the roster.
However, the move makes sense.
The Cardinals need running backs. David Johnson is hurt. Chase Edmonds could miss several weeks. They have Alfred Morris but he was inactive on Sunday.
Going out and getting Drake sends the right message to the players in the locker room. It is a move that says the organization has not given up on the season. It will continue to try and make the team better.
With Drake, they have a running back they can lean on while Johnson and Edmonds are out. We have seen how bad things can get offensively without the threat of a running game. That’s bad for Kyler Murray and his development as a quarterback.
As for the draft pick, it is a Day 3 pick. Day 3 picks are crapshoots in the NFL. If they end up giving up a sixth-round pick, it will have been for the pick they acquired to trade tackle Korey Cunningham, a guy they didn’t like much anymore.
Who wouldn’t trade Korey Cunningham for a starting running back for half a season, especially if Cunningham isn’t in their future plans? It’s giving up nothing for something, even for just half a season.
And if Drake is good enough they want to re-sign, they can. And if he leaves in free agency, the Cardinals potentially could get a compensatory pick in 2021.
It was a move they had to do. To keep moving in the direction they want to go in 2019, the move makes sense.
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