Cardinals had potential draft-day deal in place with Saints

The Arizona Cardinals could have had the first round of the NFL draft last weekend go much differently. With the 16th overall pick, they selected Tulsa linebacker Zaven Collins. However, the Cardinals reportedly had a deal in place to make a trade that never went through.

According to Jeff Howe of The Athletic, the Cardinals and New Orleans Saints had a deal in place. Had the New England Patriots not selected quarterback Mac Jones, the Saints would have moved up from the 28th pick.

Then the Cardinals would not have been able to land Collins, although they would have perhaps gotten a future first-round pick.

Had the Pats not selected Jones, they reportedly were going to take Collins at 15.

The Saints would have landed Jones and the Cardinals would have been in a much different scenario. Their entire draft class would look vastly different.

But we will never know because the Pats were surprised that Jones was even available, the Cardinals weren’t willing to trade back or didn’t have options to do so and landed Collins, and the Saints selected Houston pass rusher Payton Turner.

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Early, post-draft 53-man roster projection for Cardinals

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