The NFL Trade Deadline was at 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday afternoon and has officially passed. Though it was a deadline full of action, the Arizona Cardinals stayed put in what was the first silent NFL Trade Deadline under current general manager Monti Ossenfort.
The deadline consisted of stars moving around, including New York Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner and defensive tackle Quinnen Williams, but there was no movement in the Valley, and it makes sense why.
Why Didn’t the Cardinals Make An NFL Trade Deadline Move?
With the Cardinals’ win on Monday night against the Cowboys, Arizona sits at 3-5, in last place in the NFC West division and two games out of the Wild Card. They have nine games left, playing six teams in the current playoff picture, five in the NFC playoff picture, and four games against teams in their own division.
Yes, it’s an uphill battle for the Cardinals, but their season isn’t over, so there wasn’t a good enough reason to start selling players. However, Arizona also wasn’t in a strong enough position to acquire players at the NFL Trade Deadline.
The Cardinals currently have a 6.9% chance of making the playoffs and a 0.4% chance of winning their division, according to PFSN’s NFL Playoff Meter. Arizona is projected for seven wins.
The Cardinals’ remaining schedule is one of the most difficult in the NFL. However, the Cardinals have been in every game this season, and that’s where the optimism stems from.
Arizona’s next two games are against the Seattle Seahawks and the San Francisco 49ers. Earlier this season, the Cardinals lost back-to-back games to both those teams by a combined four points.
Arizona took the lead against the 49ers in Week 3 with less than four minutes remaining before San Francisco kicked a walk-off field goal. Then, the Cardinals scored 14 unanswered points against the Seahawks in Week 5 to tie the game with less than 30 seconds remaining, before Seattle drove for a walk-off field goal.
The Cardinals have been right there and just need to learn how to finish games, and there was a glimpse of that on Monday night. Arizona’s tradeable pieces that were talked about leading up to the deadline were veteran defensive lineman Calais Campbell, safety Budda Baker, and quarterback Kyler Murray.
Campbell is a pivotal part of the Cardinals’ defensive front, who wants to end his career in Arizona, and Arizona can’t afford to send him away for the return they’d get if they believe they can make a run at the playoffs.
READ MORE: 2025 NFL Trade Deadline Tracker
Baker is signed through 2027 and can still be a valuable piece of Arizona’s defense, especially if it believes in a run at the playoffs. The Cardinals would’ve had a large asking price for the two-time All-Pro.
As for Murray, the Cardinals were never going to trade the former first-overall pick mid-season. If anything, Arizona would wait until the end of the year.
The only main trade target that the Cardinals may have gone after was New York Jets running back Breece Hall, and after what they got for Williams and Gardner, I’d imagine the price for Hall was pretty steep as well.
The Jets were rumored to be shopping Hall for a third-round pick, but he remained in New York as the deadline passed. The Cardinals are a team that could have used a dynamic running back like Hall, but a third-round pick may have been more than they wanted to give up.
Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon also hinted that Trey Benson might return soon last week, which could have also influenced the decision. Now that the NFL Trade Deadline has passed, any players who are released will go to waivers, where teams will be able to pick them up.