TEMPE, Ariz. -- It’s that time of the year.

Mock drafts. Mock this. Mock that.

ESPN NFL Insider Mike Sando wrote Wednesday about a series of mock trades he thought made sense leading up to April’s NFL draft. One included the Arizona Cardinals. Sando proposed Arizona trading wide receiver Michael Floyd to the Cardinals’ NFC West rival Los Angeles Rams for a second-round pick.

Remember, the Cardinals traded their second-round pick to the New England Patriots last month for coveted pass-rusher Chandler Jones. Arizona is one of two teams (Philadelphia is the other) without a second-round pick this year.

Michael Floyd (15) might not have the eye-popping statistics, but he's vitally important to the Cardinals' passing game. Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports

One some levels, the trade makes sense. Floyd is entering the final year – the option year – of his rookie contract. He hasn’t had 1,000 receiving yards since 2013. And Sando raised a very legitimate question: “Is Floyd a clear-cut No. 1 receiver the team wants to pay at that level?” He’s slated to earn $7.32 million this season. Any extension or a new contract would likely eventually exceed $10 million a year.

Is Floyd worth that kind of long-term money? The numbers say no. With Larry Fitzgerald, Arizona’s clear-cut No. 1 wideout, likely entering one of this final years in the league, there will come a time when Floyd will be forced to be the Cardinals’ No. 1, should he remain in the desert. When Floyd played just 32 snaps without Fitzgerald on the field last season, he had two catches on five targets for 22 yards and no touchdowns, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

But when he was playing Robin to Fitzgerald’s Batman, Floyd was very good, catching 50 passes on 85 targets for 827 yards and all six of his touchdowns.

Floyd has yet to prove he’s capable of being a No. 1. But does that mean the Cardinals should trade him for a second-round pick in the next two weeks? No.

He’s a vital piece to the Cardinals making a Super Bowl run, which they came within a game of last season, and they won’t find a Floyd-type receiver – tall, strong, vicious at the point of attack – in the second round.

Floyd makes the Cardinals’ passing game work. Fitzgerald proved he could still have a 1,000-yard season at 32 years old, working the middle of the field and underneath routes out of the slot. The Cardinals also had John Brown and J.J. Nelson, who utilized their speed on go routes to take the tops off defenses. Floyd’s size and body control were used to work the sidelines on deep routes. He had the strength to shake off defenders to gain 217 yards after receptions last season and averaged 16.3 yards per catch.

Each of the Cardinals’ receivers were complementary pieces to the other. Take one away – especially Floyd – and the passing game isn’t capable of setting franchise records.

But here’s another reason not to trade Floyd: He had 849 yards last season while needing about five games to get back into his own rhythm after a gruesome hand injury during training camp. He had eight catches for 104 yards in his first five games – five catches and 59 yards coming in Week 4 alone. From Weeks 8-16, Floyd had five 100-yard games. Had he entered the season healthy, it’s likely he would’ve surpassed at least 1,000 yards for the second time in his career.

While Floyd hasn’t proved he’s capable of being a true No. 1 receiver, he’s shown how valuable he is to the Cardinals’ quest for a Super Bowl. And for that reason alone, Arizona should keep him this season.