Former Arizona Cardinals quarterback gets another chance
By Sion Fawkes
Josh Rosen will forever rank as one of the biggest draft busts in both Arizona Cardinals and NFL history. But he is getting yet another chance in Cleveland.
Former Arizona Cardinals quarterback Josh Rosen has played for five different NFL teams since he entered the league in 2018. And his career highlight with the Cardinals may be the “Nine Mistakes” remark he made after he was drafted. But his former status as a first-round pick continues to keep his NFL life afloat.
The Cleveland Browns were the latest team to warrant an audition for Rosen. Interestingly, the Browns also worked out A.J. McCarron, who they all but traded for during the 2017 season until it was found they filed papers to make the trade after the four o’clock deadline.
The Cleveland Browns gave former Arizona Cardinals quarterback Josh Rosen a tryout as a contingency plan to the ongoing Deshaun Watson saga. Instead, they ended up signing him to a one-year deal.
It is no secret the Browns traded three first-round picks for Deshaun Watson earlier in the year. The trade also prompted Cleveland to ship Rosen’s fellow 2018 draftee, Baker Mayfield, to Carolina. Mayfield will coincidentally compete with yet another former first-round cast-off from the 2018 NFL Draft in Sam Darnold, for the starting quarterback job.
Watson, of course, is facing up to a year-long suspension after he faced over two-dozen cases of misconduct. While Watson settled most of the cases outside of court, it does not leave him exempt from receiving punishment from the NFL.
The Browns do have Jacoby Brissett and Josh Dobbs on the roster, but they saw enough to reach out to the Cardinals former first-round pick, whose time in the desert was less than memorable. Rosen started 13 games for the Cardinals and finished 3-10. He threw 11 touchdown passes compared to 14 interceptions and logged a 55.2 completion percentage and a 66.7 passer rating.
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He helped lead the Cardinals to a league-worst 3-13 record that season, which gave them the first pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. After selecting Kyler Murray, the Cardinals traded Rosen to the Miami Dolphins. Following an ill-fated stint in Miami, Rosen later saw time with the San Francisco 49ers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the Atlanta Falcons.