The Cardinals Traded Back Up With The Lions To Take Paris Johnson Jr. At No. 6

The Arizona Cardinals were busy on Thursday night in Kansas City, as they were making moves all over the board in the early goings of the 2023 NFL Draft. First, they moved down from No. 3 to No. 12 in a trade with the Texans, gathering the 33rd overall pick, a 2024 first, and a 2024 third rounder in the process.

From there, after Anthony Richardson went fourth and Devon Witherspoon went fifth, they got back on the phones and landed the No. 6 pick from Detroit, sending the 12th pick they just acquired along with the 34th overall pick in the second round to the Lions in order to select Paris Johnson Jr., the star offensive tackle from Ohio State.

The Cardinals were in a bit of an odd spot picking third overall, but as the lone team in the top-4 without a need at quarterback, they were allowed to shuffle the deck a bit and slide back to land the offensive tackle they coveted. There had been noise that Kyler Murray, who will miss time next season after tearing his ACL in December, had been lobbying for Johnson to be the pick, as he was hopeful to get some more protection on the left side of the line.

Arizona obliged their star quarterback by getting his preferred tackle, who they had to jump the Raiders to land. For Detroit, there was an expectation they would be targeting Witherspoon given their need at corner after trading Jeff Okudah to Atlanta earlier this offseason, but when he went off the board, they started thinking big picture and slid back six spots and picked up another early second round pick to continue rounding out their roster. Detroit now has the 12th, 18th, 34th, 48th, and 55th selections in the first two rounds of the Draft.