We crunched the numbers, and here’s the true cost of the Josh Rosen trade to Miami

Two trades.

Six picks.

And one polarizing quarterback.

The Dolphins made some big-time moves in the second round of Friday’s draft, landing Rosen and a second-round pick in 2020 after trades with the Saints and the Cardinals.

There were a bunch of late-round picks. There were moves down.

But what exactly did the Dolphins give up and what did they get in return?

Here’s a rundown of what came and went:

They parted ways with their 48th and 116th picks this year plus an undetermined fifth next year.

They got back Rosen, the 202nd this year plus an undetermined second in 2020.

It’s hard to determine an apples-to-apples transaction, since we don’t know how bad the Dolphins will be in 2019 and how good the Saints will be.

But for the sake of argument, let’s say the Dolphins are the worst team in the NFL. And let’s say the Saints win the Super Bowl.

So according to this NFL Draft Trade Value Chart, the Dolphins in aggregate surrendered the equivalent of the 43rd pick this year (a second-rounder) for Rosen and the 71st pick next year (a third-rounder).

When viewed through this lens — and the fact that Rosen will cost the Dolphins just $6 million over the next three years — the trade will be a bargain if he becomes even an average quarterback.

If he becomes a good to great one, it will be a steal.

***

Our live news story was light on quotes, so here’s the post-Rosen availability with Chris Grier, in full:

(Opening Statement) – “We acquired Josh Rosen from the Cardinals tonight. It was an opportunity to add more competition and talent at a position that we’ve always talked about here, in terms of creating that competitive environment at every position. I want to thank the Cardinals for working with us. It’s been a grueling two days for both of us working through it. I’m sure they were talking to a bunch of teams. (Arizona Cardinals General Manager) Steve (Keim) and I had been in touch. It was very good. We’re happy that we could come to an agreement that benefitted both teams.”

(What do you like about QB Josh Rosen as a quarterback?) – “He was always a guy that’s had a ton of talent. He’s a smart guy, like everyone knows. He has arm talent. He can throw it. I think what everyone always liked about him was how cerebral he was as well. Again, it’s a young, talented guy at a premium position in this league.”

(The decision to move back from 48 to 62 – how did that come about, was there talk about using that pick to trade for QB Josh Rosen?) – “No. When you make a trade like that, a team has to come up wanting somebody. We were perfectly ready to just make the pick at 48 and we got a call. Literally, we were almost on the clock, and so we hashed out a deal with New Orleans.”

(How instrumental was Head Coach Brian Flores and Offensive Coordinator Chad O’Shea in the decision to acquire QB Josh Rosen?) – “Very involved. Like I said, this isn’t a one-man show. I know everyone is always like ‘Who does what?’ but it’s working in collaboration with Brian, the scouts, the coaching staff, the pro scouts. Everyone watched a lot of stuff. We talked and did a lot of background checks in terms of people in and around Arizona’s organization, UCLA’s staff that had him and we had the information on him last year too. Again, we felt comfortable for the value where he was and then added him to the roster.”

(You’ve talked before about last year and you liked two quarterbacks – Baker Mayfield and Josh Allen – obviously not Josh Rosen. What has changed?) – “I wouldn’t say we didn’t like Rosen. Again, working with different coaching staffs and what they’re looking for at the position. At that point, we were talking about a top-10 pick, and he just wasn’t in those top five or six guys we were comfortable taking at pick 11.”

(Do you see QB Josh Rosen being your starting quarterback this year?) – “I’ll leave that up to Brian (Flores). You know me, it’s always (up to) the coaching staff. Brian will make those decisions. Ryan Fitzpatrick has been great. His personality, as you guys know, he’s a character. (He’s) a great leader, so I think the two of them will be good in the room.”

This story was originally published April 26, 2019 at 11:22 PM.