The Cardinals were talked about as a prime candidate to trade out of the third overall pick since they secured it in Week 18 of the 2022 season and that trade finally went down while they were on the clock on Thursday night.
Most people thought that trade would be with a team looking for a quarterback, but that’s not how things played out. Moments after taking quarterback C.J. Stroud with the second overall pick, the Texans moved back up to select Alabama edge rusher Will Anderson with the third overall pick.
Anderson was considered a possible first overall pick during the 2022 season because of the way he created nightmares for offenses off the edge of the Crimson Tide defense.
It cost the Texans quite a bit to move up. They used the 12th overall pick they got from Cleveland in the Deshaun Watson trade and a 2024 first-rounder — they have their own pick and Cleveland’s from the same trade — as the centerpiece of a package that also includes the 33rd overall pick this year and a 2024 third-rounder. The Cardinals will send the 105th pick in this draft to Houston.