Let's not forget about that trade when it happened and the months before that season. I wanted the pass rusher but, when I saw the details, I was more than intrigued, I was very excited. The only reason that Monti wasn't a hero after that trade is that we are the cardinals and Cardinal things happened.
After that trade, we had Houston's first round pick. Everyone and I mean everyone, said it would be a top 5 pick and could easily have been the number 1 overall pick the next year. Houston was supposed to be one of the 2 worst teams in the NFL. Who could have predicted they would make the playoffs and even win a game? Who could have predicted that Stroud would have his ONLY good year THAT year? I guess we should have, being Cardinal fans.
Think about it, Caleb Wilson went number 1. J Daniels went number 2. D Maye went number 3. We took MHJ at 4. And Joe Alt went number 5. If you pair Paris with any of those guys, it would have been a great draft day trade! Now, do I think Monti has been great? No way. But if we had gotten a top 5 pick back from Houston the way EVERYONE said we were going to, Monti would be praised for this and would have set us up greatly for the next 10 years.
So let's all cool our collective jets when bashing that trade, it was NOT a bad trade when he made it, it was a bad trade because of Cardinal luck.