Upon losing their fourth straight game during Sunday’s 20-10 loss in Seattle to the Seahawks, the Arizona Cardinals have dropped to 1-6 as they reach the midway mark of the season. With two difficult games against the visiting Baltimore Ravens (5-2) followed by a trip to Cleveland to face the Browns (4-2), General Manager Monti Ossenfort has some difficult choices to consider.

Does he decide to ride things out and see how his club responds once quarterback Kyler Murray joins the starting lineup or does he start to look ahead to next season and do some wheeling and dealing to enhance his team’s fortunes for the future?

He doesn’t have a lot of time to decide. The NFL trade deadline is a week from Tuesday at 1 p.m. (Arizona time).

The Cardinals reportedly have already been contacted by multiple teams concerning the availability of some of their top talent and it only figures they’ll be players in the days leading up to Tuesday’s deadline.

They have at least four individuals who are possible candidates to be dealt and each of them comes with a different level of likelihood. Things could change, but here’s how we see things with a week to go until T-Day:

Tight end Zach Ertz

Trade level probability: High

Ertz turns 33 on Nov. 10 and although he’s been one of the Cardinals’ best tight ends in history just three years into his tenure with Arizona, Ossenfort should easily be able to move him to a contender looking for some red zone receiving help and pick up some additional draft capital.

Ertz is healthy following a long road back from ACL surgery, but he’s had a tough time finding continuity with quarterback Josh Dobbs as he’s off to one of the slowest starts of his career with just 27 receptions for 187 yards and one touchdown through seven games.

Second-year tight end Trey McBride, the 55^th overall selection in the 2022 draft, is getting more and more reps and is becoming a bigger part of Drew Petzing’s offense in recent weeks. He’s fourth on the team in receiving yards (170) and has 15 catches on 21 targets.

With veteran Geoff Swaim and Elijah Higgins, a rookie out of Stanford who Arizona claimed off waivers from the Dolphins onboard, plus a pair of tight ends on the practice squad in Blake Whitehard and Bernhard Seikovitz, the Cardinals have enough depth to navigate the rest of the season without Ertz.

The downside of trading Ertz is how much leadership the Cardinals would lose in the locker room. That, and the possibility of him getting red hot once Murray returns. Ertz and his family also love it here and he might not want to leave. He’s under contract for two more seasons, although the Cardinals have a potential out in his deal that would force them to eat $5 million in deal cap space should they exercise that option.

Wide receiver Marquise “Hollywood” Brown

Trade level probability: High, but unlikely

The fifth-year pro has been the Cardinals’ biggest offensive weapon to date with a team-leading 32 receptions, 383 yards, three touchdowns and has accounted for a team-best 24 first downs. That makes him perhaps the most desirable piece of trade bait in Arizona’s entire arsenal.

The only problem is that he’s in the final year of the rookie deal he signed with Baltimore, so whoever trades for him would have to negotiate a new contract with Brown or else they’ll just be renting his services for the stretch run.

The Cardinals have reportedly told teams that Brown, 26, is unavailable, but trade compensation has a way of going up the closer teams get to the deadline, so this situation is worth watching. There’s depth behind Brown in Rondale Moore, rookie Michael Wilson, Zach Pascal, and Greg Dortch, who has only been used as a returner thus far, but Brown is clearly the best of the bunch.

Trading Brown would undeniably upset Murray, however. Brown is his best friend on the team and a former college teammate at Oklahoma. Ossenfort and coach Jonathan Gannon would have to sell Murray on the idea if the Cardinals ultimately decide to pursue a trade and move on from Brown. If they keep him, they’ll have to be creative in how they re-signed him to a new deal.

Safety Budda Baker

Trade level probability: Low, but uncertain

When the Jets traded star safety Jamal Adams to the Seahawks in 2020, they received a starting safety in return (Bradley McDougal), two first-round picks and a third as part of the package. Baker certainly is worthy of some hefty compensation, but how much could the Cardinals really get if they were to seriously listen to offers?

If it’s an Adams-type deal, the Cardinals would be foolish not to at least consider it. But the return haul is uncertain and the feeling in and around the organization is that the Cardinals don’t want to deal Baker, 27, at all. The seventh-year pro, after all, has been the heart and soul of Arizona’s defense for years now and Ossenfort and Gannon each have said publicly that Baker exemplifies everything the franchise covets in a football player and a person.

Besides, the five-time All-Pro and Pro Bowl selection has said he’s happy with the organization and the direction the club is headed after having his doubts at the end of last season and then asking to be traded in the spring if the Cardinals wouldn’t commit to, especially financially, that he was and is a huge part of their future.

“I’m very excited,” Baker said last week, adding of Gannon and the culture shift in Arizona, “He preaches the same things I believe in, so that’s something very special to have this being my fourth coaching staff here. I tell him all the time how much I respect him and all the coaches. It’s been a great culture kind of change and a true blessing for me to be a part of.

“I’m very excited to be a Cardinal and I’m just going to continue to work hard and continue to be the best I can be for the team.”

Offensive tackle

Kelvin Beachum

Trade level probability: Moderate

Back in March, the Cardinals re-signed Beachum to a two-year, $5.15 million contract. The veteran right tackle started every game last season, the only Arizona offensive lineman to do that.

But six weeks later, the Cardinals selected Ohio State tackle Paris Johnson Jr. with the No. 6 overall pick in the NFL draft and before we knew it, Johnson had quickly worked his way up the depth chart, pushed Beachum to the bench, and has started every game at right tackle.

That, in turn, has made Beachum available via trade — but only to a point. The Cardinals needed him badly on Sunday after left tackle D.J. Humphries was ejected for making contact with an official, and Beachum remains a valuable swing tackle solution moving forward, even at age 34.

But viable tackles don’t grow on trees and some team in need may try to pry Beachum away by next Tuesday. The Cardinals’ depth at tackle behind Beachum isn’t the greatest, but Arizona has options in Carter O’Donnell, Dennis Daley and practice squad member Jackson Barton.