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Grading the Josh Rosen trade for Miami Dolphins, Arizona Cardinals

By Randy Gurzi

ATLANTA, GA - DECEMBER 16: Josh Rosen #3 of the Arizona Cardinals reacts after a rushing touchdown by David Johnson #31 in the first quarter against the Atlanta Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on December 16, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - DECEMBER 16: Josh Rosen #3 of the Arizona Cardinals reacts after a rushing touchdown by David Johnson #31 in the first quarter against the Atlanta Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on December 16, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /
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The Arizona Cardinals agreed to a trade to send quarterback Josh Rosen to the Miami Dolphins for the 62nd overall pick. Grading the move for each team.

As soon as Kliff Kingsbury landed the Arizona Cardinals head coaching job, the rumors started to come in that the rookie head coach wanted to draft Oklahoma’s Kyler Murray first overall. This was met with plenty of skepticism considering Arizona just moved up in the 2018 NFL Draft to grab UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen at No. 10 overall.

Once the draft kicked off though, we all saw Kingsbury was for real as he and the Cardinals took Murray, which left Rosen wondering what was next for him. Surely, the team wouldn’t bring both quarterbacks into training camp, which also made it hard to move him.

Word was the Cardinals wanted a second round pick, but with no one biting, they ended up having to include a fifth-round selection next season in order to stay in the second round as they landed the Miami Dolphins No. 62 overall selection.

Miami Dolphins Grade

Originally the Cardinals wanted the Dolphins 48th pick, but the Fins weren’t having that. They stayed firm and called the Cardinals bluff, which was the right call. They also added another fifth-round pick next season just to get the Cards to close the deal which was next-level negotiating. (Update: Report has changed as the Cardinals will get the Dolphins fifth-rounder, not the other way around.)

Miami now landed a top-10 pick at a fraction of the value. This puts an end to the speculation that they were tanking and this could be a big improvement from the quarterback room they had a season ago with Rosen joining veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick.

Final Grade: A

Arizona Cardinals Grade

As good as this was for Miami, it was equally bad for the Cardinals. They walk out of this draft looking pretty bad with how they handled everything. They toyed with Rosen time and again and were publicly quiet — then adamantly backed him. Then they released a hype video that didn’t feature him at all.

Not only did they mistreat Rosen, but they backed themselves into a corner and made sure they had no chance of getting fair value for the guy they thought was going to be the face of their franchise just a season ago.

dark. Next. Grades, analysis for every Day 2 pick

The only saving grace will be if Murray proves to be the truth. The fact is, Kingsbury wanted the Heisman winner as his quarterback and as Bill Parcell’s famously said: “If they want you to cook the dinner, at least they ought to let you shop for some of the groceries.” These are Kliff’s groceries and he better prove to be right, because this looks bad right now.

Final Grade: F

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