NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah on Chances Ty Simpson Lands with the Cardinals

NFL Network's Daniel Jeremiah told Rich on The Rich Eisen Show that the Arizona Cardinals should not assume Ty Simpson falls to them at 34, and that the small price of trading up is worth paying to make sure they leave the second round with the Alabama quarterback.

Jeremiah's logic was about insurance, not certainty. He acknowledged Simpson could very well still be on the board when Arizona picks at the top of the second round. "There's a chance they can just stick at 34 and he falls right to him," Jeremiah said. But he is not willing to bet on it. "My thing is if you even think there's a 2% chance the Jets might take him at 33, it's you pay the small price and you go up and you get him."

Rich pushed back, suggesting the odds the Jets pull the trigger on a quarterback at 33 might run lower than 2%. Jeremiah agreed on the Jets but stayed firm on the principle. "I don't think the Jets are taking him. I do think, if we get by the Rams thing, that the Cardinals could hold their water and wait at 34 and take him. But I'm just saying, what normally, if you like him enough there, then you don't take any chances. Just go do it."

The Rams thing Jeremiah keeps circling back to is the night's potential plot twist, Los Angeles taking Simpson at 13 with Matthew Stafford coming off an MVP-level season. If that scenario evaporates and Simpson is still alive late in the first, the math shifts again. The case for moving up, in Jeremiah's framing, comes down to draft capital teams pick up by trading down earlier in the round.

"The draft capital to move up I think would be worth it," Jeremiah said, "certainly if they earn it with a trade and top end" picks. The phrase he kept returning to was assets. The Cardinals, in his read, would now have extra assets to employ because of an earlier move. "It's worth the fifth-year option, and it's worth also making sure you get the guy you like."

Rich asked the natural follow-up. Why not the Jets? Why is Jeremiah so confident New York stays away from a quarterback at 33 with Justin Fields and Tyrod Taylor on the depth chart? Jeremiah pointed at the calendar and the asset pile. "I just don't think the Jets are going to sit around and take a quarterback in this draft with next year looking the way it is and all the picks that they have. Three ones next year. To me, this is about building it, building the foundation you can support the quarterback."

The through-line on Jeremiah's read of Arizona is that the Cardinals identified Simpson as the guy. If you have done the work to identify the guy, the cost of moving up to guarantee him is not the question worth agonizing over.