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Arizona Cardinals get: OLB
Baron Browning
Denver Broncos get: 2025 sixth-round pick
Trade date: Nov. 4
Grade for the Cardinals: B
Grade for the Broncos: B
The Cardinals needed some pass-rush help. Arizona ranks 31st in pass rush win rate (28%) and recently lost
Dennis Gardeck for the season
to a torn ACL after previously losing
BJ Ojulari -- also
to a knee injury -- before the season began.
Browning has had injury issues of his own and was on IR earlier this season for a foot injury. But in acquiring him, Arizona lands a player who can presumably start right away at edge. Browning has an average 16% pass rush win rate at edge in a small sample this season and has a 13% pass rush win rate at the position over the course of his career. He does not have a sack this season but racked up 9.5 combined sacks over 24 games the past two seasons. That makes him a likely upgrade for the Cardinals over
Mack Wilson Sr., who has a 7% pass rush win rate and one sack this season.
A Browning-
Zaven Collins pairing isn't that frightening to opponents, but it is better than what the Cardinals had in the first half of the season. Arizona doesn't figure to be a true contender, but it is currently in first place in the NFC West and has a 49% chance to reach the playoffs, according to ESPN's
Football Power Index. So I don't mind the Cardinals making a small addition to mitigate a major weakness.
Browning is a rental, as he'll be a free agent after this season. That's partly why it's also logical for the Broncos to deal him even though they, too, have a viable chance to make the playoffs (36%). The Broncos also don't need Browning to start on the edge, as they have
Jonathon Cooper (whom they signed
to a four-year extension Monday) and
Nik Bonitto, so Browning is worth more to Arizona than to Denver.
The Broncos have a lot of cap room next year (as does Arizona), so there was a pretty good chance they would not have received a compensatory pick had Browning left in free agency.