2026 NFL draft: 3 potential trades back from No. 3 for Arizona Cardinals

Since the Arizona Cardinals want to trade back from the No. 3 picks, here are three deals that could work.

The Arizona Cardinals have the third pick in the 2026 NFL draft, which begins this week on Thursday. All the reports coming out are saying that they want to trade out of the pick to acquire more draft picks.

But what does a trade look like and who could be involved?

The Kansas City Chiefs are involved in talks at some level. ESPN’s Adam Schefter expects trade talks to heat up this week.

NFL teams use a variation of a trade value chart when it comes to draft picks. Now, what a team actually is willing to give up can be influenced by potential competition with other teams, but we can’t count on that.

Here is the general trade value chart teams use.

Here are some potential deals that could be done.

Kansas City Chiefs

The Chiefs have two first-round picks, which would be appealing to the Cardinals, who reportedly want to make a move for quarterback Ty Simpson, and the 29th pick might be just the spot to get him.

The third overall pick is worth 514 points.

The Chiefs’ picks at No. 9 (387 points) and No. 29 (202 points) together are worth 589.

To make up the difference, the Cardinals could give up No. 65 (78 points) for a total of 592 points.

One deal could be:

• Cardinals receive get No. 9 and No. 29 (589 points)
• Chiefs receive No. 3 and No. 65 (592 points)

Another could be:

• Cardinals receive No. 9, No. 29, No. 74 and 2027 third-round pick (653 points + value of future third-round pick, which is 36-78 points)
• Chiefs receive No. 3 and No. 34 (689 points)

The Cardinals keep their third-round pick and the Chiefs essentially move back five spots from No. 29.

Dallas Cowboys

The Cowboys have the 12th and 20th picks but no pick in the second round.

Pick No. 12 is 347 points and No. 20 is 269 for a total of 616.

This deal is close:

• Cardinals receive No. 12, No. 20 (616 points)
• Cowboys receive No. 3, No. 65 (592 points)

New Orleans Saints

The Saints are perhaps a dark horse to move up, although they do not have two first-round picks. They have the No. 8 pick, worth 406 points. Their second-round pick, at No. 42, is worth 142 points.

This deal could work:

• Cardinals receive No. 8, No. 42 (548 points)
• Saints receive No. 3, No. 104 (547 points)

Then the Cardinals could use their two second-round picks to then move back into Round 1 to get Ty Simpson.

They could trade No. 34, No. 42 and No. 65 (395 points) for No. 28, No. 38 and No. 106 (398 total points).

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