Report: Teams Calling Dolphins About Josh Rosen
This really shouldn't have come as much of a surprise.
Teams have been calling the Miami Dolphins regarding a potential trade involving quarterback Josh Rosen, according to ESPN reporter Adam Schefter.
This makes sense because Rosen clearly doesn't appear to have a long-term place with the Dolphins after they selected fellow quarterback Tua Tagovailoa with the fifth overall selection in the 2020 NFL draft — one year after the Dolphins traded second- and fifth-round picks to Arizona to get Rosen.
But the Dolphins also shouldn't be in a hurry to trade Rosen because of two significant factors. First, his guaranteed salary for the next two seasons is $2.1 million for 2020 and $2.9 million for 2021, which is peanuts for a quarterback. Second, and this is most important this season, having three quarterbacks on the roster might be more important than ever because of the uncertainty related to COVID-19 and the possibility that a quarterback could test positive and be forced to miss a game or more.
For those two reasons, the Dolphins aren't likely to just give away Rosen for something like a sixth- or a seventh-round pick, even though his performance in both 2019 and 2020 could put him in the "reclamation project" category.
And keep in mind the report says the Dolphins have been "fielding inquiries," which is not the same thing as the Dolphins actively shopping Rosen.
Rosen has a lot of desirable physical attributes, starting with the strongest arm on the Dolphins roster and great size and some mobility. But it's in some of the finer points of playing the position that he's lacking.
Whether Rosen ever will develop those remains to be seen, but let's not forget he's only 23 years old — younger than Bengals rookie Joe Burrow.
So there really shouldn't be a hurry for the Dolphins to trade him unless the price is right.
There's a suggestion on social media that because Tagovailoa has looked healthy and Rosen isn't in the future plans, the Dolphins should just get whatever they can for him and just go with Ryan Fitzpatrick and Tagovailoa this season.
That's wrong, from this vantage point.
Rosen does have value. It would be a mistake to trade him just for the sake of trading him.