The Arizona Cardinals have officially decided on their franchise quarterback, and it's not Josh Rosen. Despite taking Oklahoma signal-caller Kyler Murray with the No. 1 pick of the 2019 draft on Thursday night, though, there's apparently a chance Arizona holds onto Rosen for the time being.
According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the Cardinals, having spoken with multiple interested teams, are prepared to retain Rosen if they don't receive an attractive trade offer for the tenth overall pick in last year's draft.
The three teams that have spoken to the Cardinals this off-season about Josh Rosen are the Giants, Dolphins and Chargers. But Rosen has been a backup plan at best for all three. Arizona has no issues keeping Rosen; it is prepared to keep him if it doesn’t get a suitable offer.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 26, 2019
Arizona general manager Steve Keim and rookie head coach Kliff Kingsbury initially threw support behind Rosen after news of their interest in Murray became clear, but ultimately relented, making him available via trade last month.
The UCLA product certainly didn’t establish himself as a solid starter, let alone future star, his rookie season, throwing for 2,278 yards, 11 touchdowns, 14 interceptions, and completing just 55.2 percent of his passes. Yet it’s not like Rosen was put in the best position to succeed, either, playing behind perhaps the league’s most porous offensive line with an aging stable of playmakers at his disposal.
Murray, meanwhile, meany believe is poised for superstardom sooner rather than later after a breakout season with the Sooners. He accounted for nearly 5,400 yards and 54 total touchdowns during his first full season as a starter, passing and running his way to the Heisman Trophy. Back in October, as coach of Texas Tech, Kingsbury raved about Murray, inadvertently predicting the future by saying he would “take him with the first pick in the draft if I could.”
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