All this is why I fantasy the Cards draft both Johnston, WR, TCU and Robinson, RB, Texas this year because in 2 yrs we would have gotten rid of both Conner and Hopkins. Letting them both go in the next 1 and 2 years, will have us in a good cap situation and already have 2 studs to replace them. Lots of teams will envy us having 2 so powerful offensive weapons, plus our mini-mouse QB who should have grown up by then.
Now don't go saying how we have other needs right now. I know all that, but having two studs and such important scoring positions on rookie contracts, frees us up in the next few drafts to not worry about those 2 positions, and concentrate solely on filling in our other needs. Besides the drafts, having CAP space should make that so much easier to do.
We don't have to get our starting DT, OL, and/or CBs all in this draft. What is the rush? You don't think we are going to compete next year do you?
We have 2 or 3 years to fill all the holes before we will be in a position to be a playoff type team. I prefer to look further down the road accepting the fact that the next year is already a lost year, and the year after that will still be a growing year. Thus that gives us 3 drafts to fix this team and be fully ready to do some serious damage when the 2025 season begins.