Cleveland Browns sign former UCLA QB Josh Rosen to one-year deal

The Cleveland Browns decided to sign former first-round draft pick Josh Rosen to a one-year deal on Thursday evening, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The news comes as the franchise braces for an NFL decision on the potential suspension of Deshaun Watson. It is expected to be finalized sometime in the near future. In the meantime, the Browns worked out both A.J. McCarron and Josh Rosen earlier this week. Rosen will backup Jacoby Brissett if Watson is suspended.

Rosen has bounced around the league at five different teams over the years: the Arizona Cardinals (2018), Miami Dolphins (2019), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2020), San Francisco 49ers (2020), and the Atlanta Falcons (2021).

More background on Josh Rosen’s football career

On Aug. 29, 2021, Rosen tossed a touchdown pass in a preseason game for the Atlanta Falcons against the Cleveland Browns. Before he signed with the Falcons just six days later, the 49ers released him on Aug. 18, having chosen to move forward with their new first-round quarterback Trey Lance.

While the reason for the 49ers waiving his contract may have come from the team’s drafting of rookie quarterback Trey Lance, Rosen was frustrated at his lack of opportunities to play in the NFL, according to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo.

“The 49ers are waiving QB Josh Rosen, source says,” reported Garafolo. “Rosen mentioned recently he wasn’t getting enough reps in practice. A chance to latch on elsewhere for the rest of camp now.”

After signing with the 49ers late in the 2020 season, Rosen signed a one-year contract with the team. Just two months later in February, he received a contract extension to keep him with the team through 2021. With the 49ers’ decision to draft Trey Lance with the third-overall pick in 2021, they became the third team to draft a new quarterback with a top-five draft pick while Rosen was on their roster.

Rosen was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals with the 10th-overall pick in 2018 after they traded up to that position. After a disappointing rookie season with a record of 3-10 as a starter, the Cardinals made the decision to take another quarterback the following year with the number one pick and selected Kyler Murray.

The Cardinals then traded Rosen to the Miami Dolphins, where Rosen would start only three games and go winless. The following year the Dolphins went on to select Tua Tagovailoa with the fifth-overall pick, relegating Rosen yet again to backing up a rookie.

In college, he starred for the UCLA Bruins, he completed 60.9 percent of his passes for 9,341 passing yards, while tossing in 59 touchdowns and 26 interceptions.

Coming out of high school, Rosen was one of the most highly touted prospects in America, ranking as a five-star quarterback and the No. 2 signal-caller in the country, according to the On3 Consensus Rankings for the 2015 cycle. During his storied career for St. John Bosco (Bellflower, California), he racked up countless accolades and threw for 11,175 passing yards and 90 touchdowns.

On3’s Austin Brezina also contributed to this article.