Cardinals should trade Patrick Peterson to help Josh Rosen

Patrick Peterson is a great cornerback, but the Cardinals are planning for their future and trading him could garner a very nice return that would greatly benefit their young quarterback.

Not too long ago, the Arizona Cardinals had a pretty legitimate secondary that featured cornerback Patrick Peterson as well as safety Tyrann Mathieu. And when they had Carson Palmer calling the signals, you could usually count on the Cardinals to at least be in contention for a playoff spot.

But those days of Arizona football are gone, and this organization is now in very much of a transitional period, or even just in straight-up rebuild mode.

With the 10th-overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, the Cardinals selected their franchise quarterback of the future: Josh Rosen out of UCLA. As raw as Rosen has looked at times, he’s shown some promising signs that in another year or two he could help get this Cardinals team back to playing football in January.

But there isn’t much Rosen is going to be able to do if the Cardinals don’t put the appropriate offensive pieces around him. He already has running back David Johnson, who is in the top tier of NFL running backs and should be around to help this team for a while. And Rosen currently has a future Hall of Fame receiver in Larry Fitzgerald. But at age 35, Fitzgerald isn’t part of the long-term picture.

This is where the Cardinals can use Peterson to their advantage. If they trade him now, they can stockpile some future draft picks that they can use to help bolster their offensive line (which definitely needs help), as well as find an elite receiver or tight end. All of these pieces will be greatly beneficial to Rosen, who had a history of injuries when he was at UCLA and could use all the protection and assets he could get.

Peterson is still in his prime at the age of 28, and he’s already a seven-time Pro Bowler and three-time First-Team All-Pro. There’s no doubt the Cardinals could get a very nice slew of draft picks in exchange for him.