Vikings Sign Josh Rosen to Replace David Blough as Practice Squad QB

Rosen, a former top-ten draft pick, is on his seventh team in five years.

With David Blough being signed to the Cardinals' active roster last week, the Vikings have signed former No. 10 overall pick Josh Rosen to their practice squad as Blough's replacement.

Rosen will serve as the Vikings' No. 3 quarterback behind Kirk Cousins and Nick Mullens. If both players stay healthy, Rosen will simply be the scout team QB and will assist with game preparation in the position group's meetings. 

However, he's now one injury away from being the backup, and another injury from potentially being thrust into action. That's highly unlikely considering Cousins' incredible durability throughout his career, but teams need to have three QBs for depth purposes.

It's been a wild ride for Rosen since flaming out as one of the bigger draft busts in recent memory. After a fantastic career at UCLA, he was taken 10th overall by the Cardinals in 2018, three spots after Josh Allen was selected. Rosen entered a grim situation in Arizona and went 3-10 as a starter during his rookie season, throwing more interceptions (14) than touchdown passes (11) while completing just 55 percent of his passes.

In 2019, the Cardinals drafted Kyler Murray with the No. 1 overall pick and traded Rosen to the Dolphins for a second-round pick and a fifth. Rosen went 0-3 as a starter from Weeks 3 to 5, throwing one touchdown and five picks, and spent the rest of the season backing up Ryan Fitzpatrick. He hasn't started an NFL game since.

Rosen was waived by the Dolphins in 2020 after they drafted Tua Tagovailoa fifth overall. He then bounced around, having stints with the Buccaneers and 49ers that year. San Francisco waived him in 2021 after drafting Trey Lance. Rosen spent 2021 with the Falcons, going 2 for 11 with two interceptions in a few appearances. 

Earlier this year, Rosen was with the Cleveland Browns, who eventually waived him from their practice squad in October.

The Vikings are his seventh team in five years.

The draft hype surrounding Rosen has been completely dead for a few years now, as he's been awful whenever he's appeared in NFL regular season games. However, he's still just 25 years old, and the raw tools that made him a top pick — size, arm talent, footwork — haven't gone away entirely. Rosen's draft status and name recognition make him more interesting than your typical practice squad addition.

Realistically, Rosen will never take a regular season snap for the Vikings. But who knows? He's an intriguing name to add as the practice squad QB, with the potential to hold onto that role or even push Mullens for the backup job in 2023.

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