Former 1st-Round QB Josh Rosen Is a Free Agent
A cautionary tale about falling in love with sure-fire 1st-Round quarterback talents, Josh Rosen is currently a free agent available to sign with any NFL team.
The San Francisco 49ers released Rosen on Tuesday.
49ers waived QB Josh Rosen, who now has played for four NFL teams since Arizona drafted him in the first round in 2018. They waived him to claim CB Davontae Harris off waivers from the Baltimore Ravens.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 17, 2021
Rosen’s departure from the 49ers is the latest installment in a floundering career, peppered with stops in Arizona, Miami, Tampa Bay, San Francisco, and now the free-agent wire.
The 24-year-old was a mainstay of draft hype conversations just three years ago, lassoed in with the 2018 draft class that included Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, Josh Allen, and Lamar Jackson. To date, only Mayfield, Allen, and Jackson have emerged from the grouping as Pro Bowl-caliber passers.
Interestingly, Rosen was considered one of the safest prospects from his class because some perceived him as the “smartest.” So far, that theory is wildly false.
During 2019 and 2020, the Minnesota Vikings could have used a prospect like Rosen. Those two campaigns were the sets for Sean Mannion as QB2 of the Vikings, a player most Vikings fans didn’t love. Through six full years of professional football, Mannion has yet to throw a single touchdown pass.
But that was then – and this is now.
The Vikings do not need Josh Rosen on their roster for 2021. Minnesota is not elite at QB2 by any means, but the team – for once – has a long-term plan at the position if the Kirk Cousins Experiment ends soon. That’s Kellen Mond, drafted out of the 3rd Round last April.
Mond is raw, an undebatable fact about his current standing on the team. But who cares? Auditioning Rosen, plus Jake Browning already gunning for the QB2 gig – forces Mond into an awkward spot in his rookie season. A Cousins-Browning-Rosen-Mond foursome essentially tells Mond that he really isn’t the future, instead just a face in the crowd that might get some tread down the road.
What’s more, Rosen isn’t any good. He’s tossed 12 touchdown passes to 19 interceptions through three NFL seasons – a mark that is fatally incongruent with contemporary quarterback standards, even for young players. Not the Cardinals, Dolphins, Buccaneers, nor 49ers believe in his abilities. Is that a coincidence? No, his performance stinks. There is not enough room for him on practice squads, evidently.
Kirk Cousins, Tom Brady, and Russell Wilson are the only active quarterbacks in the league to not miss games due to injury dating back to the start of the 2015 season. Wilson has played in every game, Cousins missed one due to held-out starters in 2019, and Brady was suspended for tomfoolery. It is unlikely that any quarterback not named Cousins will play meaningful offensive snaps for the Vikings in 2021. If Cousins is hobbled, the smartest option is to begin the on-the-field development of Mond. Don’t sign Rosen to perhaps blossom with the Vikings – he probably would’ve started that process by now with one of his other four teams.
The Vikings could have used Rosen in 2019 or 2020 when the Mannion contingency plan was running roughshod over the depth chart. But Minnesota doesn’t need a fallen 1st-Round draft talent on its roster now — when it already has Mond with a high upside clamoring for action.