Arizona Cardinals general manager Steve Keim changed the trajectory of Josh Rosen’s career without ever speaking with him.
During an interview on the “Rich Eisen Show,” Rosen revealed that Keim hasn’t contacted the quarterback in months. Keim didn’t chat with Rosen during the pre-draft hubbub when rumors became rampant that the Cardinals would select Oklahoma QB Kyler Murray with the No. 1 pick. Keim didn’t even chat with Rosen after he went ahead and selected Murray. And Keim didn’t bother to reach out to Rosen before or after trading him to the Miami Dolphins.
Essentially, Keim ghosted the man he made the 10th overall pick in 2018.
Rosen did have contact with coach Kliff Kingsbury, who called when the Cardinals were picking Murray. “I don’t really know what happens now,” Kinsgbury told Rosen.
Reassuring.
A day after that phone call, the Cardinals traded Rosen to Miami in exchange for a second-round pick, which revealed the quarterback’s tremendous plummet in value. The Cardinals bungled the situation in more way than one.
Before the Cardinals bailed on Rosen, he referred to the pre-draft process as “annoying,” and this detail about a lack of communication further sheds light on why. The quarterback’s future had tremendous uncertainty, and the only information he got from Keim was through the media, where the general manager’s comments surely didn’t reassure Rosen. “Is Josh Rosen our quarterback? Yeah, he is right now, for sure,” Keim said at the NFL combine. And yet, right now, it’s Murray.
Rosen has joined the Dolphins, where he is competing with Ryan Fitzpatrick to become the team’s new starting QB. The Dolphins are surely hoping Rosen can prove he’s a long-term solution at the position. His 2018 season was filled with problems, but he was a top-10 pick for a reason. He has tremendous upside, even if Arizona opted to (silently) move on in favor of another talented young quarterback.
