Could the Broncos avoid “wasting” another first round pick on a quarterback by trading for Josh Rosen?

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.