Eli Manning and Ben Roethlisberger were near the top of the Cardinals '120' board going into the 2004 draft, quarterbacks that had the potential to change a franchise. And the Cardinals at the time were searching for a long-term QB.

But atop their board wasn't a quarterback but a wide receiver, a guy who arguably should've won the Heisman Trophy at the University of Pittsburgh, a player that also proved to have franchise-changing abilities.

The Cardinals wanted Larry Fitzgerald with their No. 3 overall pick.

"There was no question in our mind he was the guy if he was there," said Rod Graves, who was the team's general manager in 2004. "We knew there was a chance he wouldn't be there. But if he were there, he was going to be our selection."

The Cardinals again have the No. 3 overall selection in this week's draft. Given that they traded out of the same spot in 2023, the last time the organization took a player at No. 3 remains Fitzgerald.

He wasn't a QB, but he's now in the Hall of Fame.

"You never really know what teams are thinking," Fitzgerald said. "You're not privy to that information.

"I knew there was a need for the quarterback position," he added. "When you have guys like Ben Roethlisberger and Eli Manning and Philip Rivers, I knew there was a likelihood there would be quarterbacks taken. That's all I knew."

Fitzgerald playing coy? Perhaps. But given the circumstances leading into the draft once the Cardinals hired Dennis Green as their head coach, it was not difficult to see Fitzgerald in Arizona.

Fitzgerald had been a ballboy for Green's Vikings. Fitzgerald's father, Larry Fitzgerald Sr., had been the host of Green's radio show for years. The Cardinals already had Anquan Boldin coming off a spectacular rookie season, but Green had built some excellent Minnesota teams with two superstar wideouts in Randy Moss and Cris Carter.

At the Scouting Combine, Green called Fitzgerald "probably the best player in the country." Two weeks before that, Green dropped a bombshell by saying there was only a "slim" chance the Cardinals would take a quarterback at 3, praising third-year (but unproven) quarterback Josh McCown.

"Josh McCown, I think he is going to be a great one," Green said then. "I think people have a hard time believing it, but when I buy into a quarterback, I really do. That's my track record."

The relationship between Green and Fitzgerald couldn't be overlooked, but Graves said it wasn't the driving factor.

"Dennis' familiarity, that helped the matter, but we had scouted him and scouted him and overscouted him," Graves said. "There was no hesitation about the kind of player he could be.

"Now, we drafted a lot of players that came through, and to say beforehand we were actually going to get everything we got out of Larry, I don't know if any of us would imagine that."

Fitzgerald only did one pre-draft workout, nothing individually. Even now, he wonders if Green ever divulged to his father what the Cardinals would do, but in a few conversations with Green ahead of time "at no point did he show his hand."

"He told me 'You had a great year but we're still kind of evaluating everything with our needs' and that was the last conversation we had," Fitzgerald said.

Fitzgerald already had some brushes with NFL greatness, with the University of Pittsburgh sharing facilities with the Pittsburgh Steelers. (Fitzgerald's draft evaluation from then-Steelers coach Bill Cowher, which now resides in Fitzgerald's Hall of Fame display, feature reports from Steelers offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt and wide receivers coach Bruce Arians, both of whom ended up being Fitzgerald head coaches.)

On draft night, however, he eschewed an invite from the NFL to attend draft night in New York. His mother had passed away from cancer just a year before. He wanted to spend time with his grandfather, with whom he was close, after his grandfather had been ill. So Fitzgerald had a huge family gathering.

"One of the better nights I could remember," Fitzgerald said.

All that was left was to find out where he was playing.

Draft weekend in Arizona had a cloud over it; on Friday (the draft was Saturday-Sunday in those days) the news came out that former Cardinal Pat Tillman had been killed in action in the Middle East. On draft day, the Chargers took Manning first, even though Manning had made clear he didn't want to play in San Diego (he was dealt soon after to the Giants after the Giants took Philip Rivers at 4.)

There were rumors Jacksonville, with the ninth pick, might trade up to No. 2 and the Raiders to grab Fitzgerald. That never materialized. Fitzgerald thought there was a good chance the Raiders could still take him. He had a good relationship with then-Raiders senior personnel executive Mike Lombardi, given that both attended Valley Forge Military Academy.

Lombardi called Fitzgerald when the Raiders were on the clock. Fitzgerald thought he was headed to Oakland. Instead, Lombardi gave Fitzgerald the heads-up the Raiders were going in a different direction.

Fitzgerald was a Cardinal.

"These guys come in 20, 21 years old, they are just at the point of blossoming to greatness," Graves said. "They still need a few elements -- the right foundation, the right coaching, the right scheme – to get them to the next level. It's hard to identify or measure that want-to, that desire. But once you see it, you know it's special. And yes, you need to be a little lucky to get it sometimes."

Had Fitzgerald been off the board, the Cardinals might not have taken a QB. Had they grabbed a signal-caller, Roethlisberger was the probable choice. Safety Sean Taylor was believed to be just under Fitzgerald on the team's board.

But the plan was for Fitz. It worked out as planned.

"Yes," Graves said. "He was the guy."