It was reported that the New England Patriots are interested in trading for Arizona Cardinals quarterback Josh Rosen as a possible successor to veteran quarterback Tom Brady. Rumors have it that the Cardinals want to trade Rosen as they will take Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft.
Rosen failed to live up to his billing as the 10th overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, throwing for 11 touchdowns with 14 interceptions, forcing the Cardinals to contemplate on their starting quarterback position.
However, Rosen cannot bear the blame solely because the Cardinals failed to give him enough protection with their mediocre offensive line.
However, the Patriots could abandon their plan of pursuing Rosen because of the reported lack of willingness to trade him away, per Charles Robinson of Yahoo! Sports. According to Robinson, the Patriots are currently in wait-and-see mode as the Cardinals are still contemplating whether or not to trade Rosen.
“A team source in New England wasn’t fully convinced the Cardinals had settled on trading Rosen,” Robinson said. The Patriots could be an ideal team for Rosen to regain his old form and restore confidence in his game as he could learn while playing with Brady.
If he’s traded to the Patriots, Rosen has more than enough time to learn the team’s offense because the 41-year-old Brady plans to play until he’s 45 years old. However, Brady’s future plans have changed, according to a recent revelation by former New York Yankees slugger and now ESPN baseball analyst Alex Rodriguez.
Patriots have yet to sign kicker
The Patriots remain without a kicker on their 90-man roster due to the snag in contract negotiations with kicker Stephen Gostkowski, who has played the role since the team drafted him in 2006. According to Mike Giardi of NFL Media, there’s currently “not much happening” on the negotiation front between Gostkowski and the Patriots, adding that that money is a big issue between the two sides.
Last season, Gostkowski earned $3.2 million in base salary, the highest of any NFL kicker. Last season, Gostkowski made 84.4 percent of his field-goal attempts and 98 percent of his extra points. In the playoffs, Gostkowski went 10-for-10 on extra points and 5-for-6 on field goals for the Patriots.
Patriots rework Bennett’s deal
The Patriots reportedly restructured the three-year, $30.5 million deal that veteran defensive end Michael Bennett signed with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2018. According to Field Yates of ESPN, Bennett agreed to a reworked two-year deal with a base value of $16.75M, including a $4M signing bonus. The move gave the Patriots an additional $700,000 salary cap space. The Patriots recently traded for Bennett, sending future picks to the Eagles.