Arizona Cardinals get Josh Rosen under contract
By Scott Allen
The Arizona Cardinals wasted no time in getting their first round pick signed
Certainly times have changed in the NFL. The Arizona Cardinals used to have problems getting their top draft picks to sign. Now, with the new slotting system, the Cardinals are able to get their picks signed quicker.
It also helps that the wallets have loosened over the years in Arizona, making quicker decisions to spend money. Now, their first round pick, quarterback Josh Rosen, is already signed.
The new franchise quarterback will get paid a reported $17.84 million over four years. He will get a signing bonus of $11 million.
What was interesting was he signed his contract the first day of rookie camp at the team’s Tempe headquarters. He was ready to go and so were the Cardinals.
So far, Rosen has said and done all the right things. Let’s just push aside the comment he made about nine mistakes on the night he was drafted. Since then, he has said everything fans want to hear.
Of course now he will have to get out on the field and prove himself. He will likely sit for the first year or two of his rookie contract, so the price at over $4 million per year should look like a bargain if he learns and then apply’s that learning well down the road.
There are those that believe Rosen should just start now. That won’t happen. The only way Rosen is getting on the field is if Sam Bradford and Mike Glennon both get injured.
That isn’t a far-fetched idea but people are pegging him to start by game three of the regular season. There is no reason to rush him.
The Cardinals are the first team to sign their first round quarterback pick. That too says something. The argument that the Cardinals have no willingness to win goes right out the door.
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Save for injury or other catastrophic event, the Cardinals have their future at quarterback. The future though will be learning now behind a couple of very competent veterans. They couldn’t ask for a better situation at this point.