Former First-Round Pick Named Cardinals' Best Trade Asset

The Arizona Cardinals don't appear to be heavily involved in the trade market, but they might have an asset worth offering to other teams, according to one outlet.

Pro Football Focus put together a list of every NFL team's most valuable trade asset. For the Cardinals, it was OL Jonah Williams who was highlighted as a potential swap piece.

PFF explained their reasoning in the article as follows:

"The Cardinals possess several budding young stars, including Trey McBride and Marvin Harrison Jr. offensively along with top picks B.J. Ojulari and Darius Robinson on defense. But the team wouldn't be overly likely to trade any of those four.

"Instead, Williams could be on the move, given the right circumstances. The former first-round pick turned in a 73.3 PFF pass-blocking grade last year, although he played just 343 total snaps. Still only 27 but a free agent in 2026, Williams would probably garner interest around the league."

Arizona signed the veteran Williams ahead of the 2024 season, inking him to a two-year, $30 million contract with $21.5 million guaranteed. While Williams played well when healthy this past season, he went down with a knee injury in the season opener, and was limited to just six games.

Unfortunately for the veteran OL, he suffered another knee injury in a loss to the Carolina Panthers, and his season was over from that point forward.

Since then, Williams' status has been uncertain. It's been speculated that he might be cut, and with the re-signing of OL Kelvin Beachum, Arizona does have a potential solution at right tackle, though a fully healthy Williams would likely be an upgrade in that category.

Williams was rock-solid in pass protection, grading out with the above-mentioned 73.3 pass blocking figure. He was weaker in the run game, but even in his limited action, he contributed to keeping QB Kyler Murray upright at an above-average rate.

Over his 343 snaps, Williams allowed zero sacks, zero QB hits, just seven total pressures, and committed no penalties. While the eye test at times wasn't quite as sturdy, Williams is still a very good starting OL in this league.

The question, however, is what a trade would be worth. For now, the Cardinals seem ready to keep Williams in their starting unit if he's healthy, but that isn't set in stone. He's still just 27 years old, but coming off two significant knee injuries might lower his potential value.

The Cardinals may want to keep him simply to maintain consistency along the O-line, and that wouldn't be an ill-advised decision.

If Williams is worth more than a late-round draft pick, it might be worth hearing out potential offers, but he doesn't seem like the type of asset that would be the driving force of a game-changing acqusision for Arizona as they look to contend for a playoff berth in 2025.