Cardinals yield huge bounty to move up for a safety
The Arizona Cardinals already have Pro Bowler Tyrann Mathieu as a top-end cover guy in the secondary. But that wasn’t good enough for general manager Steve Keim and Co. The Cardinals moved up nine spots at the top of the second round in a trade with the Chicago Bears to select former Washington safety Budda Baker.
Baker was among the top cover safeties in the entire class. He also has the ability to play outside at cornerback. After picking up linebacker Haason Reddick in the first round, it’s clear that Arizona is going for flexibility on defense. Baker brings that and a whole lot more. However, the shocking development here is exactly what the Cardinals gave up to acquire his services.
You asked for more picks?
You got more picks.#NFLDraft #BearsDraft pic.twitter.com/pPvIms35S1— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) April 28, 2017
That’s the equivalent of two fourth-round picks and a seventh rounder to move up less than 10 spots in the second round. Interestingly enough, the deal was made with a Bears team that received a ton of flack for exhausting a huge capital to move up one spot on Thursday (more on that here).
Keim and Co. have done a tremendous job finding young talent on both sides of the ball in recent drafts. It is still rather surprising that this front office would give up so much for a player that was taken outside of the first round. Time will tell whether it’s going to pay off.