6:04 pm | April 26, 2019 | Go to Source | Author:
DAVIE, Fla. — The Miami Dolphins made a big quarterback splash Friday night, acquiring Josh Rosen in a trade with the Arizona Cardinals for a second-round pick (No. 62 overall) in this year’s draft as well as a fifth-round pick in 2020.
The Cardinals used their newly acquired 2019 pick to select UMass wide receiver Andy Isabella. The NFL initially said Arizona was giving Miami its 2020 pick rather than the other way around.
Arizona wanted a first-round pick for Rosen when negotiations began, but their leverage diminished after it drafted Kyler Murray and two other quarterback-needy teams selected passers in the first-round.
The Dolphins had already traded back in the second round from No.48 to No.62, collecting a 2020 second-round pick and a 2019 sixth-round pick while also giving up a 2019 fourth-round pick. That lesser-valued second-round pick made more sense for Miami to give up for Rosen.
Rosen, the No.10 pick in 2018 draft, immediately speeds up and gives a face to the Dolphins’ rebuild. It’s also a clear sign that Miami liked the value of Rosen better than any quarterback in the 2019 draft outside of Kyler Murray.
A second-round pick is still a significant asset for the rebuilding Dolphins, so this indicates that they will give Rosen a serious chance to prove he can be the team’s franchise quarterback, but it’s still a strong move for Dolphins general manager Chris Grier to capitalize on Rosen’s diminished value.
The Dolphins also have 10 picks in the 2020 draft and are also projected to have two more compensatory picks.
Miami was arguably the NFL’s most quarterback-needy team in the league after trading away longtime starter Ryan Tannehill and signing veteran journeyman Ryan Fitzpatrick as a stopgap last month.
Rosen becomes a leading candidate to start for the Dolphins in 2019, although Fitzpatrick likely won’t go down without a fight and will want to force an open competition. It’ll be a chance for redemption for Rosen, who had an extremely rough rookie season completing 55 percent of his passes with 11 touchdowns, 14 interceptions and a NFL-low 66.7 passer rating in 13 starts (3-10 record) with the Cardinals. But he did so behind arguably the NFL’s worst offensive line and a team that fired its coaching staff after one season.
Leadership has been a key intangible for Brian Flores, and Rosen will have to show his growth in that department as well as on the field. Rosen reportedly handled the uncertainty of the past few months well. He did seemingly cut ties with the team immediately after the Murray selection by unfollowing the Cardinals’ account on Twitter and Instagram.
Arizona already paid Rosen’s signing bonus, so the former UCLA quarterback is set to make just $6.3 million over the next three seasons. That’s a bargain for a starting quarterback. The Dolphins had a shot at Rosen in the 2018 draft before the Cardinals traded up one pick ahead of them to No.10 and landed him, but two sources told ESPN that Miami was primarily interested in Baker Mayfield and Josh Allen. So what’s the difference now? A lower value for Rosen and a new coaching staff may believe they can get more out of the former top-10 pick.
Rosen’s brief tenure in Arizona was turbulent.
The Cardinals traded up from 15th to 10th in the first round of the 2018 draft to take Rosen. That night, he declared there were nine mistakes taken ahead of him. He toned down his rhetoric the next day by saying there were only three mistakes taken ahead of him — the three other quarterbacks picked, Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold and Josh Allen.
However, Rosen’s rookie season didn’t back up his braggadocio after he took over for a struggling Sam Bradford late in week 3.
But now Rosen gets a fresh start. Miami has its quarterback, at least for now. The path is clear for Murray and Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury to work their magic together without a distraction. But these team’s paths will be intertwined for years to come.
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