He may or may not be on the trading block, but Arizona Cardinals quarterback Josh Rosen is planning to report for duty when the team’s strength and conditioning program begins on Monday, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
In a Friday morning tweet, Schefter wrote, “Despite being the subject of rampant trade speculation, Arizona QB Josh Rosen is expected to report to and participate in the start of the Cardinals’ off-season workout program on Monday. Some players who have been subject of trade speculation have declined to report to workouts.”
According to Schefter’s sources, the Cardinals have not actively shopped around Rosen with any teams ahead of the NFL draft that begins April 25, though they have been approached. Speculation around the league is that the Cardinals will take Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray with the first overall pick.
At the recent NFL meetings, new Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury, replacing the fired Steve Wilks after Arizona finished 3-13 last season, was asked about needing to restore Rosen’s confidence after his rough rookie campaign.
“Have you been around Josh?” Kingsbury said. “I don’t think he needs help with the confidence factor. He’ a confident young man and that’s what you love about him. He’s got very think skin. All of this kind of falls off his back and he’s ready to go prove what he can do.”
When Kingsbury was still head coach at Texas Tech last year, he said that if he was in the position to draft a player No. 1 overall, he would choose Murray, who was recruited to Texas A&M when the coach was offensive coordinator of the Aggies.
“That was obviously generous words from him,” Murray said during the recent NFL combine. “But that’s the relationship. He’s always been very fond of me, and I respect that and I’ve never taken that for granted. He’s always someone I can go to if I needed anything. It would be fun. It’d be a great deal if I was picked No. 1.”
Rosen, the former UCLA quarterback who was picked 10th overall by the Cardinals a year ago, then became their starter in Week 4, completed 217 of 393 passes (55.2 percent) for 2,278 yards and 11 touchdowns, along with 14 interceptions in 14 games (13 starts) as a rookie. He finished last in the league in passer rating (66.7) and Total QBR (25.9).
Among the NFL team reportedly interested in making a deal for Rosen are the Washington Redskins, New York Giants, New England Patriots and Los Angeles Chargers.
