Josh Rosen returns to Browns practice squad after latest sad turn

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Josh Rosen’s long, slow fall has not dipped him out of the NFL, but he is off a 53-man roster.

The 2018 first-round pick was released Tuesday, when the Browns trimmed their roster, and cleared waivers. The Browns kept him around Thursday, when they added the former UCLA star to their practice squad.

Rosen lost a training camp competition with Joshua Dobbs to be the backup for Jacoby Brissett until Deshaun Watson returns from his 11-game suspension.

Rosen now returns to a crowded quarterbacks room — the Browns claimed 23-year-old Kellen Mond from the Vikings, too, as a likely No. 3 — and he is far away from appearing in another NFL game.

Rosen, of course, was part of the alleged dream quarterback class, when Cleveland took Baker Mayfield first, the Jets went with Sam Darnold third, the Bills selected Josh Allen seventh, Rosen landed with the Cardinals at No. 10 and Lamar Jackson fell to the Ravens with the 32nd pick.

Rosen struggled through his rookie season, throwing 14 interceptions with 11 touchdowns during a 3-13 campaign that got head coach Steve Wilks fired and brought Arizona the No. 1 pick in the draft, with which new coach Kliff Kingsbury took Kyler Murray.

Rosen was dealt to the Dolphins, where he and Ryan Fitzpatrick took turns starting in 2019. Neither was good, but Fitzpatrick was better, so Rosen was sitting by the end of the season.

Miami then drafted Tua Tagovailoa and kept Fitzpatrick as insurance, so Rosen was waived and began jumping from team to team, each organization likely hoping to tap into the promise that once made him so enticing.

He spent most of 2020 on the Bucs’ practice squad before the 49ers signed him as a backup, though he never appeared in a game. He spent last season with the Falcons, where he threw 11 passes in garbage time during four games.

And now he’s essentially the fifth quarterback in Cleveland.

“Josh gave us some good reps,” Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski told reporters Thursday, via the Associated Press. “There were some really good moments in those games and some really good moments out here on the [practice] field. He’s still learning. This was new to him a few weeks back.

“He has come a long way because he is a very, very smart quarterback, but he’s still growing.”

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