NFL roster cuts: 3 waived players SF 49ers should try to claim
By Peter Panacy
SF 49ers Waiver Target No. 3: Quarterback Josh Rosen
The No. 10 overall pick from the 2018 NFL Draft just can’t catch a break.
After being part of a front-office makeover with the team that drafted him, the Arizona Cardinals, former UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen found himself dealt to the Miami Dolphins a year later and now finds himself on the waiver wire following Miami’s drafting of quarterback Tua Tagovailoa in this year’s draft.
It’s anyone’s guess whether or not Rosen will ever be able to resurrect his career, which has been dealt multiple blows in a short period of time.
Yet San Francisco should at least express some interest. Here’s why.
Both backup quarterbacks behind Jimmy Garoppolo, Nick Mullens and C.J. Beathard, are going to be free agents next year. Beathard the undrafted variety and Mullens a restricted free agent. Rosen has a much higher ceiling still than Beathard, whose 1-9 record as a starter doesn’t command anything on the open market. And with uncertainty behind Mullens’ future beyond 2020, it wouldn’t hurt to lay claim to Rosen as a stash-and-develop candidate.
At worst, he’d be an upgrade over Beathard, who’ll otherwise hold the No. 3 spot on the quarterbacking depth chart this season.
And at best, the still-young 23-year-old Rosen could be developed into a viable commodity for 2021 and potentially beyond.