The NFL Draft is completed, as are the articles about the best and worst draft picks from each NFL team. Now it is time to move on to another method of player movement. While not as prevalent a way of building a team as the Draft or free agency, trades can bring a team back into contention just as easily.

Unlike the Draft history stories, these pieces will not rank, but rather assess, 10 trades made by each club that either involved high-profile players or made one side into a clear winner. Moves will include dates, player and team impact afterward, and who earned the overall advantage in the deal. 

Starting off the series will be the Arizona Cardinals, who were involved in arguably the most important and controversial trade of 2020 so far. On March 16, Arizona acquired four-time Pro Bowl and three-time All-Pro wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins and a 2020 fourth-round selection from Houston for running back David Johnson, a 2016 Pro Bowler, and All-Pro, along with a 2020 second-round pick and a 2021 fourth-rounder. While it is too soon to properly evaluate this trade (although many experts and fans have tried to do so), the move very well could end up on this list in the near future. 

1. January 31, 1954: Cardinals received: CB Dick “Night Train” Lane, T Len Teeuws and T Bob Morgan 

Los Angeles Rams received: DB Don Doll

Washington Redskins received: CB Don Paul and T Volney Peters 

Lane earned his “Night Train” nickname as a rookie in Los Angeles, where he had trouble learning the playbook and stayed up until all hours of the night asking teammates questions (also, he liked the Buddy Morrow song by the same name). The method must have worked, since Lane led the NFL with 14 interceptions and two touchdowns in 1952. After he registered three more picks the following year, Lane asked for more money and was instead sent to the Cardinals. He led the league with 10 interceptions in 1954, and totaled 30 in six years with Chicago, while also being selected to four Pro Bowls and an All-Pro team in 1956. Lane and his signature clothesline tackle were traded to Detroit in 1960, where he added three more Pro Bowl and two more All-Pro selections in six years before retiring in 1965. The Cardinals only had one winning season during Lane’s tenure, a 7-5 mark in 1956 that gave them a second-place finish in the NFC East. The cornerback was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1974.

Teeuws started all 48 games in four seasons with Chicago, three as an offensive tackle and one on the defensive side of the line. Morgan was released and signed with the Redskins, where he recovered three fumbles in 10 games during the 1954 season. He then played two years with the Calgary Stampeders of the CFL and retired in 1956. Paul was a Pro Bowler with the Cardinals in 1953, then went from the Rams to the Redskins and was traded to the Browns before the 1954 season began. He spent five years in Cleveland, amassing 22 interceptions and making Pro Bowls in his final three seasons before retiring in 1958. Doll was a four-time Pro Bowler with the Lions and Redskins, but he played just one season with the Rams, totaling five picks. He retired in 1955 and spent the next 34 years as a coach at the college and professional levels. 

Assessment: No team improved much record-wise due to this trade, but Lane’s individual success gave the decided edge to his new team. CARDINALS 

2. March 1, 1959: Cardinals received: RB Don Brown, T Frank Fuller, DT Art Hauser, FB Larry Hickman, DE Glenn Holtzman, T Ken Panfil, LB John Tracey, a 1960 second-round pick and a player to be named. 

Los Angeles Rams received: RB Ollie Matson 

This was the most lopsided trade in NFL history in terms of players moved, as well as the largest in the league to that point. Matson was named to the Hall of Fame in 1972 in large part due to his productivity with the Cardinals before the trade. He started his career with six straight Pro Bowl and five straight All-Pro selections. With the Rams, he ran for 863 yards and six touchdowns his first season in 1959, but never came close to matching that production again throughout three more years with Los Angeles, one with Detroit and three more with Philadelphia. He retired in 1966. 

Brown was cut by the Cardinals and then the Packers before playing three games in his lone professional season with the Oilers in American Football League’s inaugural campaign in 1960. Fuller played for years with the Cardinals, and made the move with the team from Chicago to St. Louis. He played in 47 games, including 10 during his Pro Bowl year in 1959. Hauser was released after two games with the Cardinals. He played four games with the Giants in 1959, and spent seasons with the Patriots and Broncos before retiring in 1961. Hickman had 29 yards (18 rushing, 11 receiving) with the Cardinals in 1959 and 76 (22 rushing, 54 kick return) with the Packers the following year. He played four seasons in Canada before a severely sprained ankle caused him to retire in 1963. Holtzman never played for the Cardinals, instead choosing to pursue an acting career. Panfil joined Fuller in the Pro Bowl in 1959 and played 28 games in four seasons before retiring in 1962. Tracey had one interception in 20 games over two seasons with the Cardinals. After one year with the Eagles, he signed with the Bills, making two AFL All-Star Games in six seasons in Buffalo. The 1960 second-round choice was Duke guard Mike McGee, who played 37 games in three seasons with the Cardinals, then spent the next 42 years as a college football coach and administrator. The player to be named was Silas Woods, a 1960 fourth-round pick who never played in the NFL and spent the 1960 season with the CFL’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

Assessment: On one side, we have Matson, a future Hall of Famer who had one good season after the trade. On the other, we have nine players, two of which made the Pro Bowl on a 2-10 team in 1959 and the rest who had little impact. PUSH

3. April 21, 1994: Cardinals received: WR Rob Moore 

New York Jets received: RB Ronald Moore, 1995 first- and fourth-round picks 

Rob Moore was coming off a Pro Bowl season in which he had 1,010 yards and six touchdowns. During his five years in Arizona, he amassed 322 catches, 5,110 yards, and 27 scores. Moore earned Pro Bowl and All-Pro honors in 1997 after posting 97 catches and eight touchdowns to go along with a league-high 1,584 yards. 

Ronald Moore ran for 1,018 yards and nine touchdowns as a rookie and 780 yards and four scores in 1994 with the Cardinals. He totaled just 412 yards and one touchdown over the next four years, two of which were with the Jets. New York used the first-round pick (16th overall) on defensive end Hugh Douglas, who was named NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year after posting 10 sacks in 1995. He added 12 more over the next two years before the Jets traded him to Philadelphia, where he amassed 54½ sacks and three Pro Bowl selections in six seasons. Douglas spent a year in Jacksonville before returning to the Eagles for one final season in 2004. Tackle Melvin Hayes was the fourth-round pick acquired in the deal. The Mississippi State product played just four games over two seasons before retiring in 1996. 

Assessment: Had Douglas played those seasons in New York instead of Philadelphia, this trade would have been a lot more balanced. However, Rob Moore’s consistent production makes Arizona the clear winner here. CARDINALS  

4. March 13, 1998: Cardinals received: The 1998 No. 3 overall pick, a 1998 second-round pick, a 1999 first-rounder, linebacker Patrick Sapp and running back Eric Metcalf. 

San Diego Chargers received: The No. 2 overall pick in the 1998 Draft 

This was the draft that featured a quarterback battle between Peyton Manning and Ryan Leaf for the top spot. Manning went first to the Colts and the Cardinals had a solid passer in Jake Plummer, so the Chargers paid a king’s ransom to acquire the second selection, which they used on Leaf. The Washington State quarterback missed the 1999 season due to a shoulder injury, was inconsistent at best for the rest of his career, and suffered from drug and alcohol abuse for about 15 years. He is known as one of the biggest draft busts in NFL history. 

The third overall pick became Andre Wadsworth, a defensive end from Florida State who totaled eight sacks in three years, but three knee surgeries led to his retirement in 2000. The Cardinals took Vanderbilt safety Corey Chavous in the second round. He had five interceptions in four seasons with Arizona, but his best years came after he signed with Minnesota in 2002. Chavous had 14 picks with the Vikings, with eight coming in his Pro Bowl campaign in 2003. The 1999 first-round pick was wide receiver David Boston, who had two 1,000-yard seasons with the Cardinals. He was a Pro Bowler and an All-Pro after leading the NFL with 1,598 yards in 2001. A knee injury and a steroid suspension in 2004 was the beginning of the end for Boston, who lasted one season with the Dolphins before leaving the NFL. He was arrested for DUI in 2007 and again for aggravated battery in 2011. Coming off a Pro Bowl season with the Chargers in 1997, Metcalf spent just one year with Arizona, posting 1,218 kick return and 295 punt return yards. He played two seasons with the Panthers and one each with the Redskins and Packers before retiring in 2002. Sapp started just six games and had two sacks in two seasons with the Cardinals. He retired after spending the 2001 season with the Memphis Maniax of the original XFL. 

Assessment: Boston had the most success of any player in this trade, and although the Cardinals did not really benefit in the standings, they hold the edge in this deal simply for avoiding the headache that the Chargers got for dealing with Leaf. CARDINALS

5. April 7, 1998: Cardinals received: running back Adrian Murrell and a seventh-round pick in the 1998 Draft

New York Jets received: A 1998 third-round pick. 

Murrell was coming off a second straight 1,000-yard rushing season in 1997, and started off strong with 1,042 yards and eight touchdowns in his first year with Arizona. He only ran for 553 yards in 1999, but had 335 yards receiving. However, he did not reach the end zone that season or the next, when he signed with Washington. Murrell took a two-year break from the NFL but came back for three ineffective games with the Cowboys in 2003 before retiring. The seventh-round pick was Florida A&M defensive end Jomo Cousins, who never played in the NFL, but did appear with the NFL Europe’s Berlin Thunder in 1999 and the San Francisco Demons of the XFL two years later. 

The centerpiece from the Jets’ standpoint was that third-round pick, which was 65th overall. The player selected at that spot was defensive end Leonard Little, who totaled 87½ sacks in 12 NFL campaigns, with a double-digit season total four times. He also was a Pro Bowler and an All-Pro in 2003, and a Super Bowl XXXIV champion. However, none of those accolades came with the Jets, since New York traded the pick to the Rams to move up on Draft Day. In the third round, they selected Scott Frost, a former Nebraska quarterback who never threw a pass in the NFL. The Jets converted him to defensive back, and he had one interception and one sack in three seasons with New York. He also spent a year each in Cleveland, Green Bay and Tampa Bay before retiring in 2003. Frost is currently entering his third season as the Cornhuskers’ head coach. The other pick New York received from St. Louis was early in the seventh round, and was used on tight end Lawrence Hart. The Southern University product never played for the Jets, instead spending 2000 with the Rhein Fire of NFL Europe and the following year with the XFL’s Orlando Rage. He played in one game with the Cardinals in 2001 before retiring. 

Assessment: Murrell did not have that great of a career after this trade, but the Jets have to be kicking themselves for trading away Little and getting next to nothing in return. CARDINALS 

6. March 6, 2010: Cardinals receive: 2010 third- and fourth-round picks

Baltimore Ravens receive: WR Anquan Boldin, a 2010 fifth-round pick 

Baltimore was in search of a top receiver, and they thought they had found one in Boldin, a three-time Pro Bowler with Arizona. He totaled 2,645 yards and 14 touchdowns in three seasons with the Ravens, and added four scores during the 2012 postseason. He also totaled six catches, 104 yards, and a touchdown in a Super Bowl XLVII win over the 49ers. He was then traded to San Francisco in the offseason, posted two straight 1,000-yard seasons on the West Coast, and was named Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year in 2015. 

The fifth-round pick going to Baltimore was defensive end Arthur Jones, who registered 8½ sacks in four years with the Ravens. The brother of UFC heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones also had two tackles, a sack and a fumble recovery in Super Bowl XLVII. Jones signed a five-year deal with the Colts in 2014, but missed the following year with an ankle injury and was released after the 2016 season. He spent one year with the Redskins before retiring in 2017. The third-round pick the Cardinals acquired became Andre Roberts, who amassed 182 catches, 2,123 yards and 11 touchdowns over four seasons in Arizona. He has gone from wide receiver to kick returner, playing with the Redskins, Lions, and Falcons before earning Pro Bowl and All-Pro nods with the Jets in 2018. He was also a Pro Bowler with the Bills last year. 

The fifth-round selection was traded to the Saints on Draft Day in 2010, and New Orleans selected defensive tackle Al Woods, an NFL journeyman who has played 125 games with six teams over his 10-year career. 

Assessment: This is the opposite of the Lane trade, since none of the players earned Pro Bowl or All-Pro selections while playing for the teams who were involved with the trade. However, Boldin and Jones were key pieces in a Ravens title, giving Baltimore the edge. RAVENS

7. March 8, 2010: Cardinals receive: S Kerry Rhodes

New York Jets receive: 2010 fourth-round pick, 2011 seventh-round pick. 

Boy, the Jets and Cardinals love making trades, don’t they? Rhodes wore out his welcome in New York, with Jets head coach Rex Ryan calling him a “Hollywood type, flashy and needing attention.” He had 191 tackles and eight interceptions in three seasons before the Cardinals released him in 2013. 

The Jets traded the fourth-round pick and a sixth-rounder to the Panthers for a higher fourth-rounder. The pick was used on running back Joe McKnight, who amassed 502 rushing yards in three seasons, but his biggest success was in the return game: he had 1,000 yards and a score on kickoff returns in back-to-back seasons (2011 and ’12). After a year off, McKnight signed with Kansas City. He scored twice in an early-season game against the Dolphins, but tore his Achilles tendon in practice and missed the rest of the year. McKnight was a member of the Saskatchewan Roughriders in Canada when he was shot and killed in a road rage incident in Louisiana on December 1, 2016. The 2011 selection was used on Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy, who played in two games in 2012 in place of the ineffective Mark Sanchez. In that time he completed 19 of 31 passes for 214 yards with a touchdown and an interception. During the 2013 preseason, he suffered an ankle injury and was released. He spent the year on the Bengals practice squad before retiring in 2014 and becoming an analyst on the SEC Network. 

Assessment: The two main components of this trade played three seasons with their new teams. Rhodes had more starting experience, but McKnight had superior years on special teams. PUSH 

8. July 29, 2011: Cardinals receive: QB Kevin Kolb 

Philadelphia Eagles: CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, 2012 second-round pick. 

Kolb played five games in relief of Michael Vick in the 2010 season, and Arizona traded for him in the hopes that he would be Kurt Warner’s replacement. Their hopes were dashed, as Kolb finished with just 17 touchdowns and a 6-8 record in two injury-plagued seasons. He signed with the Bills in 2013, but suffered a severe concussion during preseason and retired the following year. 

Rodgers-Cromartie had 13 interceptions in three seasons with Arizona and made the Pro Bowl in 2009. He spent two years with Philadelphia and one with Denver before earning a Pro Bowl nod in 2015 with the Giants. After one season each with the Raiders (2018) and Redskins (2019), he is currently a free agent. Defensive end Jerel Worthy, who was selected with the second-round pick, was traded to the Packers for defensive end Vinny Curry and cornerback Brandon Boykin. Curry has played seven of the past eight seasons in Philadelphia, with one season in between stints with Tampa Bay in 2018. He has recorded 27 sacks in 100 games, and also made four tackles in a Super Bowl LII win over the Patriots. Boykin spent three seasons with the Eagles and had six interceptions in 2013. He was traded to the Steelers in 2015 and played one season before suffering a pectoral injury. 

Assessment: If the trade were based on just the three players originally involved, it would be a push. However, the addition of Curry is the edge. EAGLES 

9. April 2, 2013: Cardinals received: QB Carson Palmer, 2013 seventh-round pick

Oakland Raiders receive: 2013 sixth-round selection, 2014 seventh-rounder. 

Palmer started his career with the Bengals after being selected first overall in 2003, and his seven years in Cincinnati included two Pro Bowls and two 4,000 yard seasons. After Andy Dalton was drafted, the Bengals traded Palmer to the Raiders in 2011, and he threw for 4,018 yards two years later. With the Cardinals, he hit the 4,000-yard mark three times in five seasons, and made the Pro Bowl after tossing 35 touchdowns in 2015. That year, he led Arizona to the NFC Championship Game, but threw four interceptions in a 49-15 loss to Carolina. Palmer retired in 2018. The pick Arizona received was used on former Rutgers tight end D.C. Jefferson, who played four games with the Cardinals in 2013, but was released after being arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence. 

Oakland traded the 2013 sixth-round pick to Houston for two selections, which became tight end Mychal Rivera and defensive end David Bass. Rivera played four seasons with the Raiders, totaling 146 receptions, 1,413 yards and 10 touchdowns. He then signed with the Jaguars, but missed all of the 2017 season due to a hand injury. Rivera has not played since Jacksonville released him in early 2018. The Raiders waived Bass late in the 2013 preseason. He spent two years each with the Bears and Titans, and split 2017 between the Seahawks and Jets, amassing nine sacks in 64 games. He was released by New York in August 2018 and has not appeared in the NFL since. The 2017 seventh-round pick was used to select defensive tackle Shelby Harris, who had one sack in two seasons with the Raiders. He was on Dallas’ practice squad in 2016 before spending the past three seasons with Denver. Harris has 13 sacks in 48 games, including six as a starter at defensive end in 2019. The Broncos re-signed him to a one-year deal for the 2020 season in April. 

Assessment - Although Rivera was serviceable with the Raiders, none of the others made much of an impact in Oakland. Despite Jefferson’s off-the-field issues, Palmer alone makes this one easy. CARDINALS 

10. March 15, 2016: Arizona received: Edge Rusher Chandler Jones 

New England Patriots receive: G Jonathan Cooper, second-round pick

Another of Jon Jones’ brothers, Chandler had 36 sacks in four years with New England, including 12½ in his 2015 Pro Bowl season. He also had three tackles and a sack in a win over the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX. With the Cardinals, Jones moved from defensive end to linebacker and has started all 64 games since coming to Arizona. He has registered 60 sacks, including a league-leading 17 in 2017 and 19 last year, earning both Pro Bowl and All-Pro honors both seasons. 

Cooper was released in October 2016 and never played a game with the Patriots. He spent one year each with the Browns, Cowboys, and Redskins, and has been a free agent since being cut by the Raiders last September. The second-round pick ended up being traded to the Saints, and the player selected, safety Vonn Bell, has started 45 games with New Orleans. New England acquired two players in the deal: Joe Thuney has started all 64 games at left guard over four seasons and wide receiver Malcolm Mitchell had four touchdowns in 2016 before a knee injury led to his retirement in 2019.

Assessment: Despite Thuney appearing in three Super Bowls (and Mitchell one) with the Patriots, Jones’ status as a dominant pass rusher gives the edge to Arizona. CARDINALS

All NFL statistics, trade information and awards courtesy of https://www.pro-football-reference.com/ All other statistics hyperlinked to players.

Next: Atlanta Falcons

-By: Kevin Rakas

Writer

Draft History: Cardinals successful everywhere except at quarterback

The Cardinals have gone through several moves, from Chicago to St. Louis to the Arizona desert, and through the years, the team has prominently been built through the Draft. The franchise has drafted a star at almost every position except the most important one, quarterback. Arizona’s all-time passing leader, Jim Hart, was an undrafted free agent. The next two best in yards, Neil Lomax and Jake Plummer, were both drafted by the team but had losing records, and Super Bowl XLIII starter Kurt Warner was signed as a free agent. The Cardinals hope the trend changes with 2019 top pick, Kyler Murray. 

Some Arizona draft picks have also become stars for other teams, including Vikings wide receiver Ahmad Rashad (Round 1, Pick 4 in 1972), Cowboys tight end Jay Novacek (Round 6, Pick 158 in 1985), Chiefs tight end Fred Arbanas (Round 2, Pick 22 in 1961) and Jets Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Namath (Round 1, Pick 12 in 1965).

BEST

10. Freddie Joe Nunn, DE/LB (Round 1, Pick 18 in 1985) – Although Cardinals draft picks have had more sacks in their careers, none posted more than Nunn’s 66½ with the franchise. He was a star as the team moved west, registering 11 sacks in the team’s last season in St. Louis (1987) and 14 more during the team’s first year in Phoenix. Despite nine years of harassing opposing quarterbacks at both defensive end and linebacker, Nunn never made a Pro Bowl or played in the postseason with the Cardinals. 

9. (tie) Charlie Trippi, RB (Round 1, Pick 1 in 1945) and  Ollie Matson, RB (Round 1, Pick 3 in 1952) - Neither Trippi nor Matson approach the career totals of the club’s top running back (who appears a bit later on the list), but both were essential to team success. Trippi was a Hall of Famer and part of the “Million Dollar Backfield” that helped bring home the 1947 NFL Championship. The two-time Pro Bowler and 1948 All-Pro ran for 84 yards and a touchdown in the 28-21 win over the Eagles. The Cardinals tried for a second title in a row but Trippi ran for just 26 yards during a snowstorm and Philadelphia prevailed, 7-0. Matson starred as both a running back and a kick returner, and he made six Pro Bowls and five All-Pro teams during the 1950s. The all-purpose back and former Olympic track star was traded for nine players in 1959, none of which made any impact with the team.

8. Calais Campbell, DE (Round 2, Pick 50 in 2008) – Like Nunn, Campbell was underappreciated in Arizona. He ranks third in team history with 56½ sacks but only made the Pro Bowl twice in nine seasons (he has been selected all three years since signing with Jacksonville). As a rookie, Campbell had two tackles in each of the club’s four playoff games, including a Super Bowl XLIII loss to the Steelers. He finished his Arizona stay with 501 tackles, 42 passes defensed and three interceptions. 

7. Roger Wehrli, CB (Round 1, Pick 19 in 1969) – The Hall of Famer from Missouri ranks third in team history with 40 interceptions and tops the franchise list with 22 fumble recoveries. Wehrli was named to seven Pro Bowls and three All-Pro teams, but St. Louis made the playoffs just three times during his 14 seasons. 

6. (tie) Jackie Smith, TE (Round 10, Pick 129 in 1963), Roy Green (Round 4, Pick 89 in 1979) and Anquan Boldin, WR (Round 2, Pick 54 in 2003) – Not an easy choice between players ranked 2, 3 and 4 in receiving yards in team history. Boldin was fourth at 7,520, but he was second with 586 catches and fifth with 44 touchdowns. The 2003 Offensive Rookie of the Year also had five 1,000-yard seasons with Arizona and was a key piece in the team’s run to Super Bowl XLIII. Green ranks second with 8,496 yards and 66 scores, and sits fourth with 522 catches. The two-time Pro Bowler and All-Pro topped the NFL with 14 touchdowns in 1983 and 1,555 yards the following year. Smith was a rare productive player coming out of the 10th round. He is third in team history (and tops at the tight end spot) with 7,918 yards and sixth with both 480 receptions and 50 scores. The Hall of Famer went to five Pro Bowls, including 1967, when he set career highs with 56 catches, 1,205 yards, and nine touchdowns. 

5. Dan Dierdorf, T (Round 2, Pick 43 in 1971) – Before knee injuries wore him down, Dierdorf was one of the premier offensive tackles in the NFL. In 13 seasons, he was selected to the Pro Bowl six times and was a three-time All-Pro. Although the team didn’t have much playoff success, Dierdorf was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1996. He has been a broadcaster at the college and profession level since 1984. 

4. Ottis Anderson, RB (Round 1, Pick 8 in 1979) – “O. J.” is the all-time franchise leader with 7,999 yards and 46 touchdowns. He started strong, earning Offensive Rookie of the Year, All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors after rushing for 1,605 yards and eight touchdowns in 1979. The following year, he ran for 1,352 yards and nine scores and made his second (and final) Pro Bowl. In all, he had five 1,000-yard seasons with the Cardinals, but injuries limited his effectiveness, and he was traded to the Giants midway through the 1986 season. He won two titles in New York and scored in both games, including a 21-carry, 102-yard performance that earned him MVP honors in Super Bowl XXV.

3. Aeneas Williams, CB (Round 3, Pick 59 in 1991) – Like many others on this list, Williams played very well on poor Cardinals teams. The Hall of Famer ranks second in team history with 46 interceptions and returned a franchise-best six for touchdowns. Williams also recovered 14 fumbles and returned two for scores. The two-time All-Pro in Arizona also went to six Pro Bowls, his first coming in 1994, when he led the NFL with nine picks. 

2. Larry Wilson, CB (Round 7, Pick 74 in 1960) – Speaking of interceptions, Wilson tops the team list with 52 and returned five for touchdowns. He also matched Williams with 14 fumble recoveries and two scores. Wilson has a long list of accolades: Hall of Famer, eight Pro Bowls, five straight All-Pro selections, a league-leading 10 picks in 1966. However, one thing that evaded him was appearing in the postseason, since his entire career was enveloped by the Cardinals’ 25-year playoff drought. 

1. Larry Fitzgerald, WR (Round 1, Pick 3 in 2004) – “Larry Legend” holds every major team receiving record, and also ranks second in NFL history with 1,378 catches and 17,083 yards, and currently is sixth all-time with 120 touchdowns. Fitzgerald has 11 Pro Bowl selections, nine 1,000-yard seasons and one All-Pro honor. That same season (2008), he had nine receptions for 152 yards and three touchdowns in a win over the Eagles in the NFC Championship Game and followed that performance with seven catches, 172 yards and two scores in a loss to Pittsburgh in Super Bowl XLIII. Fitzgerald was selected as a co-winner of the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award in 2016 with Eli Manning, who has drafted two picks before him. At this point, you can only wonder what the Raiders were thinking when they drafted Robert Gallery second overall. 

WORST

10. J. V. Cain, TE (Round 1, Pick 7 in 1974) –Many of the players in the lower part of these “worst” lists end up here not because they were a draft bust the caliber of a Ryan Leaf or Tim Couch, but because of injury or, in this case, tragedy. Cain took over for Smith as the team’s starting tight end, and he had put together two solid years, but injury took away his 1978 season. During the following year’s training camp at Lindenwood College in St. Charles, a suburb of St. Louis, intense heat led to Cain’s death by a heart attack on July 22, 1979, his 28th birthday. His death came five years after his mother died during training camp in his rookie season. Cain’s number 88 was retired by the team.

9. Larry Stegent, RB (Round 1, Pick 8 in 1970) – A star on Texas A&M’s Cotton Bowl-winning squad in 1968, Stegent suffered a knee injury in his first preseason game and was never the same. In two seasons, he played in just seven games, had one catch for 12 yards and did not have any rushing attempts. He is a longtime owner and CEO of an insurance agency in Houston. 

8. George Izo, QB (Round 1, Pick 2 in 1960) – The Cardinals got much better production out of Charlie Johnson, who was taken in the 10th round (14,928 yards, 108 touchdowns, and a 1963 Pro Bowl selection) than they did with Izo, who chose to sign with St. Louis instead of the AFL’s Titans of New York (later the Jets). Izo took over the starting spot early in his rookie season, but his year ended early after re-aggravated a knee injury he suffered in college. He bounced around from Washington to Detroit to Pittsburgh before retiring in 1967. He later used his Business Administration degree from Notre Dame to participate in a venture that built condominiums in the Bahamans, and then become a partner in a wholesale food company. His NFL claim to fame was tying a league record with a 99-yard touchdown pass to Bobby Mitchell with the Redskins in 1963.  

7. Steve Pisarkiewicz, QB (Round 1, Pick 19 in 1977) – This choice falls squarely on the shoulders of owner Bill Bidwill, who wanted the Missouri product to replace Jim Hart. Instead, Pisarkiewicz played in nine games over two seasons with the Cardinals, starting four. He got into one game with the Packers in 1980, but left the NFL. He had stints in Canada, with the short-lived USFL, then had stops in Europe with teams in Cardiff, Wales, Birmingham, England, Dublin, and Barcelona. The Vikings drafted Pro Bowler Tommy Kramer at pick 27 and the Cowboys selected longtime NFL quarterback Steve DeBerg in the 10th round. 

6. Clyde Duncan, WR (Round 1, Pick 17 in 1984) – Duncan was part of the “Wide Receiver U” team at Tennessee that also included future NFL players Willie Gault and Tim McGee. Duncan lost some time as a rookie due to a contract dispute, then separated his shoulder. He was released after catching only four passes in 1985. He never latched on another team’s roster and died in 2015 at age 54. 

5. Kelly Stouffer, QB (Round 1, Pick 6 in 1987) – Despite his high draft status and Neil Lomax nearing the end of his career, Stouffer decided to hold out the entire season. As the team was moving from St. Louis to Phoenix, they were also moving on from Stouffer, trading him to Seattle for three draft picks. He amassed a 5-11 record and 2,333 passing yards in four seasons with the Seahawks. Meanwhile, four-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro Rich Gannon was drafted 98th by the Patriots and probably would have been easier to sign. 

4. Josh Rosen, QB (Round 1, Pick 10 in 2018) – Some people would think it’s unfair that this recent of a draft pick would be this high on a “worst picks” list, but Rosen struggled to a 3-10 record after replacing the similarly ineffective Sam Bradford in 2018. He was traded to Miami, where he went 0-3 in relief of Ryan Fitzpatrick. In his two seasons, he has 12 touchdowns, 19 interceptions, and 11 fumbles. The Cardinals ended up drafting Kyler Murray this year, but reigning league MVP Lamar Jackson was available after Arizona took Rosen. 

3. Wendell Bryant, DT (Round 1, Pick 12 in 2002) – The two-time Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year had his professional career shortened by poor choices. Bryant had 1½ sacks in 29 games over three seasons, but a third violation of the league’s substance-abuse policy resulted in a one-year suspension, and he never returned to the NFL. He was drafted by the Las Vegas Locomotives of the United Football League in 2009, but spent the year on injured reserve. 

2. Andre Wadsworth, DE (Round 1, Pick 3 in 1998) – Knee injuries and attitude issues did in Wadsworth, who was an All-American and the ACC Player of the Year in 1997. He held out for money closer to what the top two picks that year (quarterbacks Peyton Manning and Ryan Leaf) were getting, and he signed a six-year, $42 million contract the night before the season-opener. He started 15 games as a rookie, posting 57 tackles and five sacks, but then endured three surgeries on his right knee and one on his left over the next two years. The Cardinals released him after the 2000 season. He had a workout with the Buccaneers and signed with the Jets in 2007, but New York released him in their last round of roster cuts and he never played again. 

1. Matt Leinart, QB (Round 1, Pick 10 in 2006) – Some of the knock-on Leinart was not his fault. His 2004 season included a Heisman Trophy and a National Championship, but the title was wiped out thanks to USC running back Reggie Bush and basketball star O. J. Mayo accepting gifts from agents. Leinart held out during his first training camp, but eventually started in place of Kurt Warner and set a rookie record with 405 passing yards in a 10-6 loss to the Vikings. His second season was ruined by a fractured collarbone and Warner emerged in 2008 to lead the Cardinals to Super Bowl XLIII. Warner retired in 2010, but Derek Anderson earned the starting job and Leinart was released. He spent the next two years as a backup in Houston and Oakland, then lost out to Thad Lewis after signing with Buffalo in 2013. Since his playing days ended, Leinart is a college football analyst on FOX, works as a real estate agent and operates a foundation that provides athletic opportunities to underprivileged youths. He was inducted in the College Football Hall of Fame in 2017. 

Next: Jacksonville Jaguars

-By: Kevin Rakas

Writer