After trading back, Dolphins ship second-round pick to Cardinals for Josh Rosen

The NFL’s Rebuild Manual basically has three ironclad rules:

1. Build the trenches first.

2. Trade back and get as many picks as possible.

3. Find a franchise quarterback.

Did Grier pull off the trifecta this weekend?

Time will tell.

But the Dolphins potentially have their quarterback of the future in Josh Rosen, traded from the Cardinals to Miami Friday for a late second-round draft pick. The Dolphins also sent a 2020 fifth-round pick to Arizona in the deal.

Rosen, the 10th pick in the 2018 Draft, was available after the Cardinals took Kyler Murray first overall.

He gets a fresh start in Miami.

But no guarantee that he’s the long-term answer.

Grier said the move an “opportunity to add more competition and talent” to the position. He will presumably battle with Ryan Fitzpatrick for the starting job.

“He was always a guy that had a ton of talent,” Grier said. “... What everybody liked about him was how cerebral he was.”

That all might be true, but he was terrible in one season with the Cardinals, posting a ghastly passer rating of 66.7.

Grier said the Dolphins were not comfortable using a top-10 pick on Rosen last year, but getting him late in the second was a better value point.

The trade capped a fierce 25 hours for the Dolphins, which began when they took Clemson defensive tackle Christian Wilkins with the 13th overall pick.

Then on Friday, they moved back in the second round and in return got a hugely valuable 2020 asset.

In Year 4 as Dolphins general manager, Grier finally traded back from a premium spot, essentially sending this year’s second-round pick to the Saints for a second this year (62nd overall, which they ultimately traded to Arizona) and a second next year.

The teams swapped third-day picks (the Dolphins sent New Orleans a fourth, the Saints shipped a sixth to Miami) to make the numbers add up.

By agreeing to slide back 14 spots in the second round, the Dolphins added to their already jaw-dropping 2020 draft haul.

They are now projected to have two picks in rounds 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7 next year to go with what many expect to be a top 5 pick, assuming this season is as challenging as envisioned.

Why?

Because the Dolphins are going after their franchise quarterback in 2020.

And now they basically have two drafts in one to get it done.

So the Dolphins again accepted some short-term pain for long-term gain.

Was that the plan all along?

Perhaps.

But the way the draft unfolded surely made the decision easier.

Round 2 kicked off the run on cornerbacks, with Byron Murphy going 33rd (Arizona), Rock Ya-Sin going 34th (Indianapolis), Sean Bunting going 39th (Tampa Bay), Trayvon Mullen going 40th (Oakland) and the Browns moving ahead of Miami to take LSU’s Greedy Williams.

Tackles were hot too, with three going in the second round’s first nine picks (Jawaan Taylor at 35, Greg Little at 37 and Dalton Risen at 41).

Many if not all of those names would have been an option if they were on the board at 48.

But perhaps the biggest kick to the Dolphins’ gut was when the Broncos traded up to 42 to take Drew Lock, a potential first-round pick who slipped to the second.

Perhaps that convinced Grier to green-light the trade, which gives the Dolphins additional flexibility to move up in the 2020 draft for a quarterback.

And it was a message surely heard all the way in Phoenix.

The Cardinals reportedly wanted that 48th pick for Josh Rosen. The Dolphins were never going to make that trade.

The Dolphins clearly like Rosen, but don’t love him.

When they were on the clock at 48, Grier did not blink.

“We were perfectly ready to make the pick at 48,” Grier said.

And now, he has a defensive lineman, a lotto ticket at quarterback and a bounty of 2020 draft picks to rebuild a roster that is talent bereft.