Just one year ago, the Arizona Cardinals moved up in the first-round to take quarterback Josh Rosen. Rosen got his first regular-season action in Week Three and started the rest of the year. He endured poor offensive line play, and two offensive coordinators. His first-year head coach, Steve Wilks, was also fired at the end of the season. Rosen didn’t have the best season stat-wise as a rookie. Now the new regime has been lukewarm at best in their support for their young signal caller. They also have the first overall pick of the 2019 draft, meaning they have their pick of anyone they want – including a new quarterback. The New York Giants should take advantage of this situation and flip a deal to acquire Rosen.
The New York Giants Should Move to Acquire Josh Rosen From the Arizona Cardinals
Arizona Cardinals Don’t Seem to Want Him
The Rosen trade rumors started more in jest after videos surfaced of new Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury saying that if he had the number one overall pick in the 2019 draft, he’d choose Kyler Murray. Now, to be fair, Kingsbury said this well before the Cardinals had even secured the number one pick, and before the thought of being Arizona’s head coach head had even been entertained in his own mind. Still, it got people thinking about the “what if.”
Recently, those ideas were fanned, and thoughts of Rosen actually being available for trade have spread like wildfire. Speaking at the NFL Combine, general manager Steve Keim affirmed that Rosen was his quarterback, though the support wasn’t exactly glowing. “He is right now, for sure,” Keim said.
But it didn’t end there. The next day, Rosen’s Instagram account was supposedly hacked, and all of his pictures that had anything to do with the Cardinals were deleted. Although it probably was a hacker, it very well could have been a disgruntled Rosen showing his displeasure at the lack of support from the very team that moved up in the first round to take him just one year ago.
Time for the Giants to Find Their Next Quarterback
It is no secret that Eli Manning is well into the twilight of his career. Manning was drafted all the way back in 2004 and turned 38 in January. Granted, he has been hampered by poor offensive line play, but he has only led the Giants to one winning season since 2012. It is time for the team to start thinking of their heir apparent. Rosen would be a great candidate to replace him with.
New York owns the sixth pick in the 2019 draft, so they could very well look there for their quarterback. Murray’s stock is rising quickly, and Dwayne Haskins has been steady in the conversation of being a top-five pick. The Giants could sit pretty at six and hope one of the two falls to them. However, with teams like the Jacksonville Jaguars and Miami Dolphins in need of a quarterback, they could see themselves leapfrogged if they don’t make a move.
Rosen’s rookie season certainly wasn’t pretty, but he was hampered by horrible o-line play and even worse play-calling. Still, he showed enough to show that he can make it through an NFL season and work through adversity. Had he been a quarterback in this year’s draft class, he’d be rated right up there with this year’s top two. If Rosen truly is available for trade, the Giants might want to be proactive and grab him before another team does.
Best of Both Worlds
Many fans thought that the Giants should have taken a quarterback in last year’s draft. Saquon Barkley ended up being as good as advertised for the Giants, but with the huge difference in shelf life for running backs compared to quarterbacks, one has to wonder if the front office made the right decision. Most experts had Rosen and Sam Darnold head to head as the number one prospects in the 2018 draft. When the Cleveland Browns opted to go with Baker Mayfield, it seemed certain that the Giants would take either Darnold or Rosen. Instead, they went with Barkley.
Trading for Rosen provides an interesting opportunity that would give the Giants the best of both worlds. They would have two top-five prospects from last year’s draft on their team, giving them a young nucleus for years to come. Add that in with Odell Beckham Jr., and that creates a three-headed monster that could scare any team as long as Rosen continues to develop.
Speaking of development, it may also be a good thing for Rosen to come to New York and learn under Manning. Rosen really didn’t have another mentor at quarterback. Sam Bradford started the year but was cut once Rosen took over. Even if he would have stayed, he wouldn’t have had half the experience Manning does. Rosen also wouldn’t have to start right away but could sit and continue to develop. In the end, a trade for Rosen to the Giants could be good on both fronts.
