Cardinals cut bait on Isaiah Simmons, trade former first-round NFL draft pick to Giants

The Arizona Cardinals are cutting bait on a struggling former first-round pick, and Isaiah Simmons is getting a fresh start.

The Cardinals on Thursday agreed to trade the hybrid defender, who was the No. 8 overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft out of Clemson, to the New York Giants in exchange for a seventh-round pick in 2024, the Giants announced.

Simmons is entering the final year of his contract after the Cardinals declined his fifth-year option this spring.

The 6-4, 238-pounder began his career at linebacker but bounced around different spots and took on several different roles. In 2022, he played nearly half his snaps last season as a defensive back. With new coach Jonathan Gannon taking over, Simmons asked to be moved to safety full-time, and his request was granted.

“There were times I was playing a position because we were down with injuries,” Simmons told reporters earlier this month. “It’s just certain circumstances that played into me playing some positions, as opposed to doing what was best for me.”

His trial with the Cardinals' new regime, however, was short-lived.

In New York, Simmons will join a defense that appears to have its starting safeties set with Xavier McKinney and Jason Pinnock. But defensive coordinator Wink Martindale has valued versatility in his lineups, and Simmons could factor into three-safety looks.

"That's one of the reasons we made the trade, because there's some upside there," Giants coach Brian Daboll said Thursday at practice. "We'll ask him to do probably quite a bit of things to see what he takes to. A guy that's athletic, explosive, has good size, we've seen him do some multiple things … (we're) certainly happy to have him here."