Cardinals pull off trade, add WR Marquise Brown from Ravens

Updated Apr. 28, 2022 10:16 p.m. ET

Associated Press

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — The Cardinals have acquired receiver Marquise Brown in a draft-day trade with the Ravens, sending the No. 23 overall pick back to Baltimore in return.

The move shores up one big area of need for the Cardinals, who were hunting for a No. 2 receiver to pair with three-time All-Pro DeAndre Hopkins. Brown caught 91 passes, including six touchdowns, for 1,008 yards last season for the Ravens.

Arizona also received Baltimore's third-round pick in the deal.

The Cardinals came into the draft with several needs, though they weren't desperate at any one position. Arizona did lose a couple key pieces in free agency, including franchise all-time sack leader Chandler Jones and receiver Christian Kirk.

The 5-foot-9, 180-pound Brown seems like a logical replacement for Kirk, who is now with the Jaguars. Brown was the No. 25 overall pick in 2019, which is nearly the exact same pick that the Cardinals gave up three years later to acquire him.

Brown and Arizona quarterback Kyler Murray played together in college at Oklahoma in 2018 when Murray won the Heisman Trophy. They'll be reunited in the desert on a team that's built to win now.

Arizona has been a team on the rise — for the most part — since it drafted Murray with the No. 1 overall pick in 2019.

The Cardinals had a 5-10-1 record in Murray's rookie season and improved to 8-8 in 2020. They started last season with seven straight wins and improved to 10-2 before losing four of five games to end the regular season. The eventual Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams easily beat the Cardinals 34-11 in the wild-card round.

The Cardinals struggled on offense during their late-season swoon after Hopkins got hurt. Brown gives them another high-caliber option should Hopkins miss any time in the upcoming season.

Arizona's late-season collapse caused some franchise friction. Murray and the team have been in a passive/aggressive contract spat as the two-time Pro Bowler seeks a lucrative long-term deal.

The two sides

The Cardinals took linebackers with their first-round pick in each of the past two years: Isaiah Simmons was the No. 8 overall selection in 2020 while Zaven Collins was No. 16 in 2021. Simmons has grown into a key piece of Arizona's defense while Collins had an up-and-down rookie season, though the team is still encouraged about his long-term future.

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