The Heat Index azcentral sports A deal to trade a quarterback in Denver could have ramifications in Arizona. The Washington Redskins have agreed to acquire quarterback Case Keenum from the Denver Broncos according to reports on Thursday, potentially changing the market for Cardinals quarterback Josh Rosen in a trade. Some recent NFL mock drafts had speculated that the Cardinals could take Kyler Murray with the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft and trade Rosen, their first-round pick from a year ago. Washington reportedly had been interested in Rosen. Now, however, the Redskins, who own the No. 15 pick in the 2019 NFL draft, could be out as a potential trade partner with the Cardinals. Keenum can provide Washington with a stop gap at quarterback as they try to replace the injured Alex Smith. Keenum's trade from Washington also puts an end to a possible reunion with Kliff Kingsbury. Kingsbury coached Keenum at Houston in college, when the quarterback put up some prolific numbers in the now-Cardinals coach's offense. Keenum could have been a fit in Arizona as a backup quarterback and mentor to Murray or Rosen. With Washington likely out of any possible deal for Rosen, the market for the Cardinals quarterback loses a possible suitor, but other teams could still be candidates to acquire Rosen in a trade should Arizona decide to deal him. The New England Patriots, New York Giants, Oakland Raiders and Miami Dolphins are among the other teams that have been talked about as potential fits for Rosen. NFL pundits weigh in on Josh Rosen: READ MORE Cards Wire's Jess Root contributed to this story. Josh Rosen photos:<doc-sep>Another day, another game of looking at the Broncos’ quarterback situation. The latest bit making the rounds is Denver making a concerted effort to trade Case Keenum to the Washington Redskins. If that happens, it leaves Denver with three quarterbacks on the roster: Joe Flacco, backup Kevin Hogan and former CSU star Garrett Grayson, who spent last season on the practice squad. So … with speculation of new Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury coveting Kyler Murray — he said in October that “Kyler is a freak … I would take him with the first pick of the draft if I could” — it leaves Josh Rosen’s future in Arizona uncertain. So why not have Denver be the 2018 first-round pick’s next destination? Nate Davis, USA Today lists the Broncos as the No. 5 logical destination for a trade for Rosen, writing “can Elway really afford to stop throwing resources at the position given Flacco’s track record on either side of his magical 2012 playoff run?” Todd Haislop, The Sporting News: “The Broncos recently traded for Joe Flacco as a replacement for Case Keenum, but the former Ravens passer’s status as a bridge QB leaves Denver room for another swing at a prospect like Rosen.” Andy Benoit of Sports Illustrated wrote: “The team that gets Rosen will have landed one of the biggest coups in NFL history. Even if Rosen costs as much as a mid-first-round pick, it’d be a coup.” — Joe Nguyen, The Denver Post 💥 A special offer for Sports Omelette readers! Subscribe to The Denver Post’s sports coverage for just 99¢ for the first month and only $6.99/month thereafter. Cancel anytime. What’s on Tap? 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Ask Mike Singer here. + Avs Mailbag: Have a question about the team? Ask Mike Chambers here. + Rockies Mailbag: Have a question about the team? Ask Patrick Saunders here. By The Numbers 74 Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver, the star of the Miracle Mets 1969 World Series championship team, has been diagnosed with dementia at age 74. Read more… Parting Shot Football star, dancer, chicken farmer. Now add voice actor to Von Miller’s long list of talents. Read more… Get in Touch If you see something that’s cause for question or have a comment, thought or suggestion, email me at dboniface@denverpost.com or tweet me @danielboniface.<doc-sep>The Arizona Cardinals have reportedly put quarterback Josh Rosen on the trade block just one year after drafting him 10th overall in the 2018 NFL Draft. While the Denver Broncos seem highly unlikely to even consider it, they could get out of another risky first round pick at quarterback by perusing a trade for Rosen instead. Despite the Cardinals likely hoping for a first round pick in return, the value for Rosen may not be as high as they hope. “Probably a three,” a general manager told Peter King. “Not what the Cardinals would think his value is.” A third rounder could be on the low side. You would have to think some team out there would push things up into the second round, which is still great value for a franchise quarterback still under his rookie contract. Nate Davis of USA Today covered the likely landing spots in a Josh Rosen trade and how he would fit each team. Fifth on his list was the Broncos: 5. Denver Broncos: GM John Elway is entering Year 4 of the post-Peyton era. Joe Flacco is poised to become the Hall of Famer’s latest attempt to solve the quarterback equation, but can Elway really afford to stop throwing resources at the position given Flacco’s track record on either side of his magical 2012 playoff run? So how does this sound: Elway offers Keim the 41st overall pick but also makes him take Case Keenum’s contract in exchange for Rosen? Denver suddenly has two good QB options and offloads Keenum’s salary while Arizona winds up with a high pick and a decent fallback if Murray proves he’s not ready to start right away. That’s a pretty good trade for me. The Broncos offload Case Keenum’s contract and get Josh Rosen as their franchise quarterback. The kicker is that they’d still have the 10th overall pick to select the best damn player left on their board. In my mind, that’s how these Broncos might improve their team the most in 2019 and beyond. However, looking over how the 2018 NFL Draft played out and how Rosen wasn’t even on Elway’s board then. It would be hard to see how he might have changed his mind now after Rosen struggled in his first season under two different offensive coordinators and a coaching staff that has since been fired. Still, it would be one of the less risky ways of landing a franchise quarterback right now.<doc-sep>This year, the Denver Broncos can kill two birds with one stone, so to speak. Broncos fans are clamoring for the team to take a quarterback with the No. 10 pick, even if it would be a gamble on a player like Drew Lock or Dwayne Haskins. Instead, forget about drafting a QB, Denver needs to go after linebacker Devin White with their first-round pick, even if that means moving up. White would mean an immediate starter and, hopefully, a long-time star on the defensive side of the ball to join Von Miller, Chris Harris and Bradley Chubb. And, let’s face it, John Elway has been terrible when drafting offensive players high in the selection process, he needs to stick to what works for him, defenders. What about the quarterback of the future? Well, the Broncos can then trade their third-round pick for Josh Rosen, the youngster who was taken No. 10 overall last year and is likely to be traded by the Arizona Cardinals. The Cardinals are about to make a crazy decision, using a top-10 pick on a quarterback one year, only to give him a single season before ditching him. That’s because, as rumor has it, Kliff Kingsbury loves Kyler Murray and so do the Cardinals. After this weekend’s NFL Scouting Combine, Arizona has seemingly inadvertently convinced everyone they’re going to take Murray with the No. 1 overall selection in this year’s draft. And when asking around the league, Peter King found multiple people to say Rosen is worth only a third-round pick. Here’s the catch, that value could plummet if they wait to trade Rosen until after they take Murray at No. 1 overall, so Arizona will be likely in a hurry to make a deal in the next 50 days. Instead of using their first-round selection on, say Lock, the Broncos could get arguably the best defensive player in the NFL draft this year and then trade their third-round pick (No. 72 overall) for Rosen. Rosen, who played three years at UCLA, had all of 13 starts last season for the terrible Cardinals. His numbers weren’t great: A 55.2 completion percentage, for 2,278 yards with 11 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. Hey, he was a rookie on the worst team in the NFL, so we should probably cut him a little slack. And, if Denver were to trade for him, coming into a team where the starter is cemented for this year (Joe Flacco) could be a best-case scenario for the 22-year old. Rosen could sit the bench, learn Rich Scangarello’s offense and bond with the “QB guru” turned offensive coordinator for a year before taking his shot at running the Broncos offense in 2020. Of course, there’s a catch with Rosen: The Broncos didn’t have him on their draft board last year per Benjamin Allbright, who’s usually spot on about these things. Would trading their third-round pick for a possible quarterback of the future — given the slim prospects in this year’s draft — change the mind of John Elway and Co.? It’s possible, but apparently, not likely. Still, stranger things have happened. Like a team drafting a quarterback at No. 10 overall — and trading away a third and fifth-round pick in the process — only to cut ties with him the very next year. It’s crazy, but apparently probably true. If Elway and his team found things in Rosen’s tape they really don’t like, it seems incredibly unlikely they’ll pull the trigger on any kind of trade for him, which would keep in play using that No. 10 pick on Lock, Haskins or even Daniel Jones. Or, if the Broncos don’t go QB in the first round and instead (intelligently) address one of their defensive voids, Denver could find a quarterback later in the draft and then wait patiently until 2020 and a much better QB class.<doc-sep>
The Redskins have found a solution at quarterback that isn't Josh Rosen. On Thursday, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported that the Redskins were working on a trade with the Broncos that would send Case Keenum to Washington. At the time, Rapoport reported that the trade wasn't done yet, but both teams were "motivated" to push it past the finish line, which made sense. After trading for Joe Flacco, the Broncos had no real need for Keenum. After losing Alex Smith to an injury that might cost him the entire 2019 season, the Redskins needed a starting quarterback. Not long after, the details of the trade came through. According to 9News' Mike Klis, the Broncos will get a sixth-round pick in 2020 and pay half of Keenum's salary in addition to a $500,000 bonus, which comes out to $4 million in total. The Redskins will get Keenum for $3.5 million and a seventh-round pick in 2020. And that could take the Redskins out of the running for Cardinals quarterback Josh Rosen, who is drawing interest on the trade market due to the Cardinals' perceived interest in Kyler Murray. If the Cardinals take Murray with the top pick in the draft, they'll need to move on from Rosen, a top-10 pick just a year ago. Given the state of the Redskins' quarterback position, they were an obvious candidate to trade for him, right up until the moment news of the Keenum trade emerged. If the Cardinals are looking to trade Rosen, they might have to look elsewhere. Keenum shouldn't be the reason why the Redskins reject any offers that involve Rosen, but his presence makes it less likely they'll wind up with Rosen. The Redskins are slightly less desperate to get him now. For Keenum, it's a tremendous opportunity to audition for a starting job in 2020. After an out-of-nowhere career year in Minnesota -- he nearly led the Vikings to the Super Bowl -- Keenum signed with the Broncos in free agency a year ago. He proceeded to morph right back into the kind of quarterback he was prior to the 2017 season, completing 62.3 percent of his passes, averaging 6.6 yards per attempt, and throwing 18 touchdowns and 15 interceptions in a full season as the Broncos' starter. The Broncos agreed to trade for Flacco after the season. According to NFL Network's James Palmer, Broncos general manager John Elway preferred to keep Keenum around as a backup on a reworked contract, but was willing to trade Keenum if that's what he wanted. Keenum should be able to beat out Colt McCoy in a quarterback competition. For as shaky as he's been throughout his career, Keenum has at times demonstrated the ability to be a starting quarterback in the NFL. McCoy almost never has. Projections from Stephen Oh of SportsLine give the Redskins a 13.2 percent chance of making the playoffs with Keenum and an 11.8 percent chance with McCoy. Regardless of how next season goes, the Redskins -- like the Broncos -- still need to address their long-term future at the quarterback position. Even if Smith returns for the 2020 season, he'll be 36 years old. Keenum likely isn't the long-term solution. He's nothing more than a bridge quarterback. The Redskins now need to figure out what that bridge leads to, because as of now, it's leading to a 36-year-old quarterback coming off a horrific leg injury.