JUST IN: Cardinals off-season agenda, Two key trade target.
The Arizona Cardinals have been pretty busy ahead of the league’s trade deadline. Sitting at 4-4, the Cardinals find themselves atop the NFC West with plenty of cap space and draft capital to make a move.
While it’s not expected of general manager Monti Ossenfort to make a big move, the Cardinals have been rumored to have interest in adding to a pass-rush group that has seen outside linebackers in Dennis Gardeck and BJ Ojulari hit injured reserve.
The Athletic’s Mike Jones reported earlier in the week that Arizona was making phone calls to improve their pass rush.
His counterpart and NFL insider Diana Russini has identified two names the Cardinals have been calling for:
“A surprise you already know about: The Cardinals are sitting atop the NFC West in November. The team is actively calling around to add some pieces. Arizona’s biggest need is edge rusher, where they’ve been ravaged by injuries.
“The Giants (Azeez Ojulari) and Titans (Arden Key) have taken calls from the Cardinals.”
Ojulari – brother of BJ – has six sacks in eight games for the Giants and is just 24-years-old. New York has reportedly been shopping him around after starting the year 2-6, and the Atlanta Falcons/Cincinnati Bengals are also teams targeting Ojulari according to Russini.
As for Key, he has three sacks thus far in 2024 and is 28-years-old. The connection with Tennessee makes sense considering Ossenfort worked with the Titans before taking the job in Arizona.
The price tags for both are likely not expensive – especially considering Ojulari is set to hit free agency next offseason while Key is set to test the open market in 2026.
The NFL’s trade deadline is Tuesday, Nov. 5.
