Arizona Cardinals Should Not Trade Michael Floyd During 2016 NFL Draft

Through four NFL seasons, Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Michael Floyd has only topped 1,000 receiving yards once. Dislocated fingers in training camp derailed his 2015 season early, but he had five 100-yard games from Nov. 1 on to end on a high note heading into the final year of his contract.

For the second straight year, rumors surrounding the Cardinals’ willingness to trade Floyd during draft weekend have surfaced. Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller, citing a Cardinals’ scout and another team source, reported that using Floyd as trade bait to move up in the draft or accumulate more picks would not be a surprise. Trade rumors are hard to dismiss completely, particularly when they come in back-to-back years leading up to the draft, but there is nothing pointing to the Cardinals actually wanting to move their No. 2 wide receiver. And quite frankly, trading Floyd would be a foolish move for Arizona.

When asked about the trade rumors by Darren Urban of AZ Cardinals.com, Floyd shrugged them off.

“I don’t worry about it at all,” Floyd said prior to throwing out the first pitch at Tuesday night’s Diamondbacks game. “It’s kind of what I saw last year too, but I don’t worry about it at all. I go into work, put my work in, watch film with my teammates and go about my day.”

Floyd was drafted No. 13 overall by the Cardinals in 2012, and he has clearly not become the elite-level wide receiver many envisioned he would be by this point in his career. He’s due to make $7.3 million next season, in the aforementioned final year of his rookie contract, so speculation about Floyd’s future is not going away and may well linger until the in-season trade deadline. Of course, Floyd and the Cardinals agreeing to a contract extension would put trade speculation to rest.

While it’s not wrong to try to add picks in any draft, Arizona is in a short window to win with 36-year-old Carson Palmer under center. Unless an out-sized offer comes general manager Steve Keim‘s way, I don’t see trade talks involving Floyd reaching a serious phase.