The Cardinals have to trade Patrick Peterson immediately
The Cardinals need a talented player and Patrick Peterson is one of the best guys on their roster. They still need to trade the Pro Bowl cornerback now.
Patrick Peterson may be the most talented player on the Cardinals roster. As such, it’s logical to think Arizona should hold on to him at all costs. Unfortunately, the talented cornerback is too old to play for the Cardinals when they’re ready to be a competitive NFL team again.
This is a franchise that clearly needs to rebuild from the ground up. They’ve handed their offense over to rookie Josh Rosen this season and to their credit, they seem willing to live with his ups and downs. Unfortunately for Steve Wilks and company, it takes a certain amount of offensive talent to properly evaluate a quarterback. At the moment, the Cardinals don’t have nearly enough quality offensive players to give Rosen a reasonable chance at survival and success.
That’s why it’s imperative for the Cardinals to deal Peterson for future assets as soon as they can. He’s already 28 years old which puts him at the tail end of his prime. The ugly truth is that his performance is going to start to fall off sooner rather than later. If the Cardinals wait to deal him, they may be parting with a significantly less desirable asset.
If they were to move him now, the team acquiring him would enjoy cost certainty for two additional seasons. His current deal with the Cardinals runs through 2020. That also happens to be his age 30 season. In other words, the team bringing Peterson into the fold wouldn’t be under pressure to hand him a big-money deal immediately. That’s really adds to his current trade value.
If Peterson finds himself on the trading block, expect there to be tons of interest. Almost every Super Bowl contender is looking for more help in their secondary. The current favorites to reach the penultimate game all feature prolific passing games. Adding a difference maker like Peterson could turn several franchises from pretenders to contenders.
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It’s very possible the Cardinals could receive at least one first round pick for his services. That would put Arizona’s front office in a good position to build around Rosen for the future. The return for Peterson probably isn’t enough to drastically accelerate the rebuild, but it can give the Cardinals one more chance to find a transcendent star. At this point in their arc as a franchise, that should be the first priority.