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The Josh Rosen experiment for the Miami Dolphins is scheduled to expire at some point today — marking the end of a 16 month investment that the Dolphins made at the very beginning of their rebuilding process. After trading down in the 2nd-round of the 2019 NFL Draft, Miami shipped the 62nd overall pick to the Arizona Cardinals as the main piece of a trade for Rosen. In the time that has passed since, the Dolphins started Rosen in three games.
He went 0-3. And it wasn’t just that Rosen was winless as a starter, it was the way in which he operated the offense. He looked overwhelmed at times, uncertain of his reads or how to control Miami’s offense. He was athletic enough to function within a pocket, but not while playing so uncertain of himself.
In April, for the second time in as many years, Rosen’s team drafted a quarterback with their first selection and now, for the second time in as many years, Rosen will be on the move. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported last night that the Dolphins plan to release him today.
With the benefit of hindsight, should the Dolphins regret this move? Absolutely not. Sometimes players don’t work out, that’s part of the variability of building a team. But for the Dolphins, trading back in the 2nd-round of the 2019 NFL Draft to manufacture an extra 2nd-round pick (one came in 2019 and the other came in 2020, which became DL Raekwon Davis) and then trading a late 2 for low-risk shot at skipping the line at quarterback was a savvy play. It didn’t work and, thanks to hindsight, there will be plenty of criticism for that move down the road.
But Rosen was on the trade market as an unprecedented case: he was one year removed from being a top-10 overall pick and the Cardinals’ offensive situation in 2018 was arguably worse than the Dolphins in 2019.
Maybe it was the constant pressure Rosen endured early on. Maybe it was the musical chairs he’s seen his offensive coordinators go through (he’ll be on his 8th offensive coordinator in six years when he lands with a new team). One thing we do know is that physical talent hasn’t been the problem for Rosen. He just did not meet the Dolphins’ standard of operating an offense — and now they’re moving forward without him. If the move for Rosen had hit, Miami could have used that No. 5 overall pick somewhere else other than quarterback and the team’s rebuilding process would have been even more accelerated. That was the potential payout when Miami decided to finance their 2019 2nd-round pick for 12 months and take the risk on Rosen.
But that isn’t reality. But for all the negativity the decision to move for Rosen will produce now, we also know it was a part of the path that led the Dolphins to Tua Tagovailoa as their next quarterback of the future. So, yeah. No regrets here.