Josh Rosen has been put in multiple bad situations since entering the league. Coming to Kansas City would give him a chance to learn how to play in the NFL.
The Kansas City Chiefs find themselves in a precarious position. Even though they managed to come out with a dominating win on Thursday night against a divisional foe the Denver Broncos, they lost the most valuable member of the team in Patrick Mahomes.
I am not trying to be overly dramatic, but Mahomes going down for any length of time could effectively end their season. Kansas City’s next four games are against the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Tennessee Titans, and the Los Angeles Chargers. It is hard to believe that the Chiefs could split those games and be 7-4 when Mahomes returns. With backup quarterback Matt Moore at the helm, there will more than likely be a regression in the offense’s performance, especially if crucial players such as Eric Fisher, Andrew Wylie, and Sammy Watkins continue to miss time.
All of this is to say that Kansas City needs to start looking towards the future. Mahomes is scheduled to be out for three weeks or longer with his knee injury. It sucks losing an entire season due to your star quarterback going down, but the NFL is brutal and unforgiving with its next man up mentality. Right now, the Chiefs and Brett Veach should be looking for a replacement at the backup quarterback position.
Kansas City has Chad Henne on injured reserve, but he is a free agent after this season ends. The training wheels would be coming off for Mahomes, so to speak, as they should be with the monstrous contract that Mahomes will earn after this season.
With that in mind, Veach should be looking for a younger player for Andy Reid to develop instead of an older veteran. The player that immediately springs to mind is former first-round pick Josh Rosen who was recently benched for Ryan Fitzpatrick just a week after being named the starter for the rest of the season. Miami is doing everything it can to ensure they get the number one overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft, which means that Rosen will never be given a fair chance there to prove that he is the future of their franchise.
Rosen wouldn’t get that opportunity here either. No one is saying that we should trade for him to replace Mahomes instead of resigning him. Instead, Rosen would have a clear role defined on a Super Bowl-caliber roster for the next three seasons as he learns from one of the best head coaches in the NFL.
Rosen’s contract is also extremely affordable. He currently has a cap hit of $1.2M, $2M, and $2.8M from 2019-2021. Rosen being able to sit down and learn an offense for a few years would help his development immensely and give the Chiefs the best back up quarterback situation in the NFL. On top of all of this, Rosen will only be 25 years old at the end of his contract—plenty of time for him to go out and make a name for himself in a game where quarterbacks are routinely playing into their 40’s.
If Kansas City can acquire Rosen for a fourth-round selection, then they should be all over it. Injuries can happen to any player on the field, no matter how much you do to protect them. Football is an inherently dangerous game, which is why depth is so important across the roster. There is no guarantee that Mahomes will never suffer another injury, so making a move like this would go a long way in ensuring this team reaches its ceilingl no matter what happens.