List of Arizona Cardinals first-round draft picks

The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference West Division. The team was established in Chicago in 1898 as the Morgan Athletic Club and is the oldest continuously run professional football franchise. They joined the NFL as a charter member on September 17, 1920, as the Chicago Cardinals. In 1960, the team moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where it became the St. Louis Cardinals. Before the 1988 season, the team moved to Tempe, Arizona, and played home games for the next 18 seasons at Sun Devil Stadium on the campus of Arizona State University. In 1994, after being known as the Phoenix Cardinals from 1988 to 1993, they became the Arizona Cardinals. In 2006, the team moved their home games to State Farm Stadium (then known as University of Phoenix Stadium), where they have played their home games since. The team was purchased by Charles Bidwill in 1932 and has been owned by a member of the Bidwill family since, with Charles' grandson Michael Bidwill being the current owner.

The NFL draft, officially known as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting", is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. The draft order is determined based on the previous season's standings; the teams with the worst win–loss records receive the earliest picks. Teams that qualified for the NFL playoffs select after non-qualifiers, and their order depends on how far they advanced, using their regular season record as a tie-breaker. The final two selections in the first round are reserved for the Super Bowl runner-up and champion. Draft picks are tradable and players or other picks can be acquired with them.

In 1936, the league introduced the NFL draft after team owners voted on it in 1935. The intention of the draft is to make the NFL more competitive, as some teams had an advantage in signing players. From through , the NFL designated the first overall selection as a "bonus" or "lottery pick". The pick was awarded by a random draw and the winner who received the "bonus pick" forfeited its selection in the final round of the draft and became ineligible for future draws. The system was abolished prior to the 1959 NFL draft, as all twelve teams in the league at the time had received a bonus choice.

Since the first draft, the Cardinals have selected 94 players in the first round. The team's first-round pick in the inaugural NFL draft was Jimmy Lawrence, a back from Texas Christian University; he was the 5th overall selection. The Cardinals have selected first overall five times and selected Ki Aldrich in 1939, George Cafego in 1940, Charley Trippi in 1945, King Hill in 1958, and Kyler Murray in 2019. In the most recent draft, held in 2025, the Cardinals selected Ole Miss defensive tackle Walter Nolen.

The Cardinals did not draft a player in the first round on five occasions. Four of the team's first-round picks—Ollie Matson, Joe Namath, Charley Trippi, and Roger Wehrli—have been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The Cardinals have used seven first-round picks on players—Glenn Dobbs, Dub Jones, John Kimbrough, Carl McAdams, Joe Namath, Ken Rice, Jim Spavital—who chose to sign with competing leagues instead.

Player selections

Symbol	Meaning	*
Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame
Selected number one overall
Selected number one overall and inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame

Position abbreviations	B	C	DB	DE	DT	E	FB	G	HB	K	LB	QB	RB	T	TB	TE	WB	WR
Back
Center
Defensive back
Defensive end
Defensive tackle
End
Fullback
Guard
Halfback
Placekicker
Linebacker
Quarterback
Running back
Tackle
Tailback
Tight end
Wingback
Wide receiver

Season	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes	1936	1937	1938	1939	1940	1941	1942	1943	1944	1945	1946	1947	1948	1949	1950	1951	1952	1953	1954	1955	1956	1957	1958	1959	1960	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
5		B	TCU
3		B	Marquette	Never played for the team
5		TB	Arkansas
1	*	C	TCU
1	*	FB	Tennessee	Never played for team
2		FB	Texas A&M	Signed for the New York Yankees of the AFL III instead
4		WB	Duke
3		TB	Tulsa	Signed for the AAFC's Brooklyn Dodgers instead
2		FB	Wisconsin
1		HB	Georgia
2		HB	LSU	Signed for the AAFC's Brooklyn Dodgers instead
7		T	Army
11		FB	Oklahoma	Signed for the AAFC's Los Angeles Dons instead
10		T	Notre Dame
''{{sortname	No	pick	0	nolink=1}}''	Pick traded to Los Angeles Rams
6		G	Notre Dame
3		RB	San Francisco
4		FB	California
2		QB	Arkansas
2		E	Oklahoma
7		HB	Auburn
10		LB	Oklahoma
1	*	QB	Rice	Lottery bonus pick
2		HB	Texas A&M
3		DB	Mississippi State
2		QB	Notre Dame
8		T	Auburn	Signed for the AFL's Buffalo Bills instead
6		T	Northwestern
12		C	Kentucky	Pick received from Philadelphia Eagles
2		DB	LSU
13		DE	Purdue	Pick received from New York Giants
9		DT	Louisville
12		QB	Alabama	Signed for the AFL's New York Jets instead
8		LB	Oklahoma	Signed for the AFL's New York Jets instead
16		WR	Washington
13		RB	Utah State
19		DB	Missouri
8		RB	Texas A&M
17		DB	Utah
4		RB	Oregon
5		DT	Purdue
7		TE	Colorado
21		DB	Texas A&M
22		DT	Arizona
19		QB	Missouri	Original pick traded to Atlanta Falcons. Pick received from Washington Redskins.
15		K	Arkansas
19		DB	Washington State	Pick received from Washington Redskins
8		RB	Miami (FL)
6		DE	Michigan
5		LB	Alabama
16		T	UCLA	Moved down draft order in trade with Kansas City Chiefs
17		DB	McNeese State
17		WR	Tennessee
18		LB	Ole Miss
5		LB	Michigan State
6		QB	Colorado State
12		LB	California
10		LB	LSU
17		G	Boston College	Pick received from Seattle Seahawks
''{{sortname	No	pick	0	nolink=1}}''	Pick used in 1989 supplemental draft
6		DE	None
''{{sortname	No	pick	0	nolink=1}}''	Pick traded to Miami Dolphins
3		RB	Georgia	Moved up draft order in trade with New York Jets
18		T	South Carolina	Pick received from NFL. Moved up draft order in trade with San Francisco 49ers.
10		LB	UCLA
''{{sortname	No	pick	0	nolink=1}}''	Pick traded to New York Jets
3		DE	Illinois
9		DB	Iowa
3		DE	Florida State	Moved down draft order in trade with San Diego Chargers
8		WR	Ohio State	Pick received from San Diego Chargers
21		T	Eastern Michigan
7		RB	Virginia
2		T	Texas
12		DT	Wisconsin
17		WR	Penn State	Moved down draft order in trade with New Orleans Saints
18		DE	Wake Forest	Pick received from New Orleans Saints
3		WR	Pittsburgh
8		DB	Miami (FL)
10		QB	USC
5		T	Penn State
16		DB	Tennessee State
31		RB	Ohio State
26		DT	Tennessee
5		DB	LSU
13		WR	Notre Dame
7		G	North Carolina
27		DB	Washington State
24		T	Florida
29		DT	Ole Miss
13		LB	Temple
10		QB	UCLA	Moved up draft order in trade with Oakland Raiders
1	*	QB	Oklahoma
8		LB	Clemson
16		LB	Tulsa
''{{sortname	No	pick	0	nolink=1}}''	Pick traded to Baltimore Ravens
6		T	Ohio State	Moved down draft order in trade with Houston Texans. Moved up draft order in trade with Detroit Lions.
4		WR	Ohio State
27		DE	Missouri	Pick received from Houston Texans
16		DT	Ole Miss