Denver Broncos: Josh Rosen a trade possibility?

If the Arizona Cardinals want Kyler Murray badly enough, would the Denver Broncos be a possible trade destination for Josh Rosen?

With the big news coming from Oklahoma Sooners star quarterback Kyler Murray that he would be committing to football going forward, rumors have been swirling that the Arizona Cardinals could take him as early as number one overall.

Peter Schrager said on Good Morning Football that he wouldn’t be surprised if Murray went number one overall — to the Cardinals or someone else — and the Cardinals’ new head coach Kliff Kingsbury has stated publicly that if he had the top pick in the NFL Draft, he would take Kyler Murray.

Some people don’t think it’s all that far-fetched that Murray would go to the Cardinals with the top pick and there is even a theory floating around that he committed to football with a ‘guarantee’ from a team (presumably the Cardinals) that he would be a top pick.

If you were guaranteed to be the number one pick in the NFL Draft, it would be much easier to leave $5 million on the table.

If the Cardinals take Murray, Josh Rosen would undoubtedly become available for trade. Rosen’s rookie season was a mixed bag of awful and pretty solid.

He completed 55.2 percent of his passes for 2,278 yards, 11 touchdowns, and 14 interceptions. He was also sacked a whopping 45 times in 393 dropbacks. Broncos fans remember their star rookie Bradley Chubb getting after Rosen in Arizona, embarrassing the Cardinals’ rookie quarterback and repeatedly planting him in the ground.

There was plenty of ‘good’ from Rosen’s rookie season, but if the Cardinals made him available for trade, would the Broncos be a realistic option?

At this point, I would say no, and here’s why.

If the Broncos thought Rosen to be a franchise quarterback, why wouldn’t they have taken him in 2018 at number five overall, even ahead of Bradley Chubb? If you think someone can be your franchise quarterback, you take him. It doesn’t matter if your top defender is still on the board.

John Elway got the chance to see and speak with Rosen up close and personal. The Broncos didn’t draft him. Despite some talk of Rosen having top-five ability, he was the fourth quarterback out of five selected in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft.

The idea of trading for Rosen is not something to just completely throw away, however.

If the Broncos could get Rosen without giving up the 10th overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, it’s something to consider seriously.

Though the Broncos wouldn’t be getting all five of Rosen’s years on his rookie contract, they would have four years to work with him and wouldn’t have to suffer through his rookie lumps. He already did that in Arizona.

The Broncos’ new coaching staff would be able to build their offense around Rosen and they could do it much earlier than they could with a rookie, who will have to have an expedited process through May OTAs.

Rosen would be able to work with the team starting in March, and because the Broncos have a new coaching staff, they have the privilege of some extra OTA sessions.

If John Elway — in any way — sees Rosen as a possible franchise quarterback, he should most definitely try to trade for him should he become available. It’s hard to believe that would be the case after he passed on him less than a year ago and watched his own roster completely overwhelm Rosen, but you never know.