Trading for Arizona Cardinals quarterback Josh Rosen would help the New York Giants address a variety of team needs heading into the 2019 NFL Draft.
With the NFL Draft just a few weeks away, the rumors and smokescreens surrounding quarterback Josh Rosen and the New York Giants have only grown stronger. Though nothing is set in stone, however, it appears likely the Arizona Cardinals are going to take Oklahoma Sooner quarterback Kyler Murray with the first overall pick.
If they do, it would make sense for the Cardinals to move on from their first-round pick of a year ago. According to Adam Schefter, even if there continue to be rampant trade rumors, the Cardinals are not actively shopping Rosen yet, though they have received offers.
Remember, at the NFL owners’ meetings in Phoenix just a few weeks ago, Big Blue co-owner John Mara made it clear that the team was looking to pursue its next franchise quarterback.
Plus, the Cardinals still have not engaged in active trade discussions to date on Josh Rosen. Other teams have asked about him, but to date, the Cardinals have not shown a willingness to trade him. To date....
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 5, 2019
Naturally, the New York Giants were one of the first teams to pop up as a destination for Rosen, especially after the recent Odell Beckham Jr. trade that afforded them an extra first and late third round pick. Other teams in the mix for Rosen include the Los Angeles Chargers and more recently, the Washington Redskins.
Whether or not the New York Giants are even interested in Josh Rosen is something only the front office knows and is up to the fan base to debate. I’m not here to argue the plausibility of this trade actually happening, I just want to highlight the reasons a trade for Josh Rosen would make sense for this team, as long as it’s for a reasonable price.
When it comes to Josh Rosen as a prospect, there are a few things to mention. Many Giants fans see Rosen as an “Eli Manning 2.0.” A relatively non-athletic quarterback who isn’t a very outspoken leader. Questions about his dedication to football and commitment were also raised during last year’s draft process. While Rosen isn’t very athletic, his character and dedication questions looked to be over-hyped in pre-draft drama.
It really feels like this Rosen move is being negatively impacted by the recent bias of this year’s quarterback draft class. Fans are fixated on Kyler Murray and Dwayne Haskins while only looking at Rosen’s body of work from his rookie year to base our judgement on his future as an NFL quarterback.
Well, thank goodness we don’t base the successes of careers on rookie seasons.
If we did, Robert Griffin III would be in the Hall of Fame and Peyton Manning would have been a complete bust. Josh Rosen isn’t perfect. He did struggle greatly last year. But, a bad rookie season doesn’t doom a career just like a great rookie season doesn’t make one.
When you take into consideration that Rosen faced more top 10 defenses than any other rookie quarterback last year, while also throwing to an aged-Larry Fitzgerald while running for his life behind the worst offensive line in football, his stats aren’t as bad as they seem.
So, with all that said, why should the New York Giants try and trade for him?
First off, it’s a low-risk, high-reward scenario. If the G-Men can grab Rosen for at most, a 2019 second-round pick and a 2020 mid-round pick, they are potentially landing their future franchise quarterback on a rookie contract while keeping both first-round picks this year.
If the New York Giants aren’t totally sold on Haskins or Murray, why waste the No. 6 pick on a guy you don’t want, or even worse, continue the recent G-Men tradition of reaching on or wasting mid-round draft picks on underwhelming quarterbacks? If the Giants aren’t going to take a quarterback early, then either don’t draft a quarterback at all this year or grab Rosen and at least have some sort of plan moving forward.
Rosen either turns into the franchise guy that you got for a steal, or he doesn’t pan out and, while it would continue the search for Eli’s successor, it wouldn’t have costed the Giants a high first-round pick.
Next, addressing the quarterback issue before the draft opens up a variety of possibilities when it comes to their first two picks. They can address their defensive needs with both first-round picks if they wanted, perhaps grabbing Devin Bush at No. 6 and Clelin Ferrell at No.17. Or, address defense at No. 6 and go tackle at No.17.
Assuming the “Rosen trade” would include the 2019 second-round pick, it wouldn’t surprise me to see Gettleman stay on the defensive side of the ball and address the secondary in Round 3.
Not having to address the quarterback position in this year’s draft allows for the Giants to get two immediate starters that can fill holes on this roster. Reaching on a guy like Drew Lock or Daniel Jones, with the amount of defensive talent in this year’s draft, would be completely idiotic.
So, as I said before, unless you are all-in on a guy like Dwayne Haskins at No. 6, reaching or wasting one of your first round picks on a quarterback just because he ‘has potential’ makes no sense. Trading for Rosen either gets the Giants their next franchise quarterback relatively cheap, or gives them a short-term solution behind center until they do find their guy in 2020 or 2021.
It’s unlikely this trade even happens, because the Arizona Cardinals will probably ask for more than what the Giants are willing to offer. Nevertheless, in a perfect world Rosen lands with Big Blue and the New York Giants address their roster holes with immediate impact players.