The Arizona Cardinals and Houston Texans finalized the lopsided trade that sent DeAndre Hopkins to the desert on Wednesday. This gives young quarterback Kyler Murray yet another weapon to work with behind future Hall of Fame wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald.
It also seemed to suggest that Arizona might look at another position with the No. 8 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft next week.
Not so fast. General manager Steve Keim will not rule out going wide receiver with that selection.
“You want to look at the long-term contracts you have in place, whether guys can play inside or outside,” Keim said, via the Cardinals’ official website. “If there is a player at the right spot, someone we are high on, we will certainly take advantage of that. I say this every year, your needs are always changing. Just because it seems on the surface we’re not as needy at wide receiver, that could change pretty quickly.”
The obvious name here would have to be Murray’s former teammate with Oklahoma, stud receiver CeeDee Lamb. Murray has been lobbying for Arizona to make that come to fruition in recent weeks.
On the surface, there’s bigger needs in the desert than receiver. Though, Fitzgerald will turn 37 years old before the start of the 2020 season and has contemplated retirement a ton in the past.
Other options outside of Lamb include former Alabama teammates Jerry Jeudy and Henry Ruggs. Both would be great fits with Hopkins and rising star youngster Christian Kirk over the long haul.
Even then, I find it hard to envision Arizona will exhaust a top-10 pick on a receiver when it has ample needs on both sides of the ball.
We’ll find out soon enough.