Let's address the obvious first: No, the Dolphins aren't tanking, as they've insisted all along. Yes, they need to add some talent, any talent, starting Thursday when the last available scraps of NFL free agents become available without any cost beyond an open checkbook.
Clearly, some offseason fog lifted and intrigue arrived with the trade for Josh Rosen. And, look, it's not just me applauding the deal. Most everyone is a little enamored, a lot curious and, above all, generally surprised by the un-Dolphins-like execution of the deal.
Old-but-new general manager Chris Grier didn't just pull off getting Rosen for a 62nd pick and fifth-rounder. He pulled it off good restraint, fine maneuvering and clear value.
"Great," coach Jimmy Johnson labeled the trade on Friday.
"Fleecing," was the verb given the Dolphins' work from CBS Sports' Jason LaCanfora.
A NFL executive who heavily scouted the available quarterbacks from this draft said what he thought of the trade by offering his rankings:
1) Rosen, 2) Drew Lock, 3) Kyler Murray, 4) Dwayne Haskins, 5) Daniel Jones.
"Murray can win right now," he said. "The question is if he'll be healthy in five years. That's why I'd have kept Rosen, if I was Arizona. Rosen is a value at that price (to the Dolphins)."
A veteran scout rated the quarterbacks like so:
1) Murray, 2) Rosen, 3) Haskins, 4) Jones, 5) Lock.
"He's good, but he has questions," the scout said of Rosen. "But then everyone had questions this draft. There wasn't a slam dunk in the bunch."
The scout compared Rosen to a new car being driven off the lot, hitting a pothole and getting knocked down in value. It's the same shiny car under a light layer of dirt. Rosen didn't show much as a rookie, but then how many rookies would on an Arizona team that switched offensive coordinators, lost its offensive line and played as lost as the Dolphins in many years.
Here's the point: The Dolphins took an educated swing here. That, in itself, is good change. For the past two decades, it's been easy to complain about the Dolphins' weak attempts to find a quarterback. Their marketing slogan seemed to be, "If you're not part of the solution, you're quarterback for the Dolphins."
Now comes a more difficult part of getting some added help. They've put the idea they're tanking to bed with Rosen. That doesn't mean they'll win much. It does mean a certain segment of the Dolphins fan base will be disappointed and a certain newspaper columnist's thought of driving a Sherman tank to games is out the window. (Bandwagon? I was thinking tank-wagon entering draft weekend.)
Now they need to get a quick read on how good Rosen can be. The quarterback room looks pretty good for what his team wants with the young Rosen and old pro Ryan Fitzpatrick. But this team still desperately needs a right tackle to help Rosen (not to mention a pass rusher and cornerback or three).
This is the week to shake the tree one final time. The free-agent leftovers can be bought without any threat of losing a compensatory draft pick. The problem is there are no average right tackles left in what was a sparse pile at the start.
There are aging veterans you might squeeze a year out of like Jeremy Parnell (Jacksonville), Donald Penn (Oakland) or Jared Veldheer (who former Dolphin Ja'Wuan James replaced in Denver). There is 28-year-old Jordan Mills, who Buffalo released despite making an improved line a priority.
The Dolphins could believe their regular backup, Sam Young, is as good an answer as anyone left. But then there's the question of backups, which gets to the question of where the bottom half of this roster is, which is another subject altogether.
All this suddenly matters because how Rosen play matters. This is a two-year rebuild by the Dolphins. Their turning assets into 12 draft picks in 2020 says as much. But the challenge is to get some help so this isn't Arizona East around Rosen.
It was a smart to get him. But to maximize the one-year tryout they've got to get him some help. If there's any help left.
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