Washington Redskins could get Josh Rosen for a bargain price

If the Washington Redskins trade for Josh Rosen, they will get him for a bargain price and set themselves up well for the future.

If the Arizona Cardinals decide to trade Josh Rosen and draft Kyler Murray first overall in the 2019 NFL Draft, the favorites to land Rosen are the Washington Redskins, according to NBC/PFT insider and writer Peter King.

King points out in his Monday column that the Redskins are armed with plenty of draft capital (four top 100 picks, including two third-rounders) and the injury to Alex Smith could pave the way for this team, which is not far off from contending for the NFC East, to acquire a young franchise quarterback.

If you’re Washington, sending that mid-third round pick (76th overall) is a no-brainer.

Draft capital is valuable currency, of course, but trading for Rosen — a good fit for Jay Gruden’s offensive scheme — is truly an incredible opportunity for a team like Washington.

For Washington, imagine having the opportunity in 2018 — knowing Alex Smith would be unavailable this year — to trade a 2019 third-round pick to get the 10th pick in the 2019 NFL Draft to pick Rosen.

That trade might not even get approved by the NFL a year ago.

Now, Rosen has taken his lumps as a rookie in the NFL in Arizona. The Redskins don’t have to deal with Rosen or any rookie quarterback going through what rookies go through. He’s not a veteran, by any means, but that year of taking lumps is over and done with.

The Redskins can move forward.

Further, this puts Washington in a much more favorable position against the cap for future years. Trading Rosen is not a financially wise decision by the Cardinals but Steve Keim might be on his last chance as general manager, and Kliff Kingsbury apparently wants to bet on Murray over Rosen.

There’s nothing wrong with that, and the Cardinals should pay whatever price to make sure they have their guys in place.

Rosen would cost the Redskins pennies on the dollar, both in terms of draft capital and salary cap hits. If the Cardinals are holding out for a higher draft pick — which they won’t get — the Redskins can put that third-rounder on the table and wait for the Cardinals to come to grips with the fact that it’s the best they’re going to get.

If the Cardinals settle for that third-rounder, the Redskins may be coming away with the biggest steal of the offseason.