Josh Rosen: 'Feels like the first day of school all over again'

PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. – Josh Rosen is giddy as a schoolboy.

The newest Miami Dolphins quarterback hinted at his excitement Monday morning on Twitter.

"Feels like the first day of school all over again lol," Rosen tweeted just hours before his introductory news conference with the Dolphins.

A year ago, Rosen was the 10th overall pick of the Arizona Cardinals.

Rosen supplanted former No. 1 overall pick Sam Bradford in the fourth game of the season and led the Cardinals to a 3-10 record as a starter.

But he became expendable after the Cardinals fired Steve Wilks, hired former Texas Tech head coach Kliff Kingsbury and made reigning Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray the top pick in this year's NFL draft.

Now the 22-year-old California native will be starting over in the NFL, this time with a team in need of a franchise quarterback.

Rosen was acquired by Miami in a trade with the Cardinals, who received a second-round pick and a fifth-round pick in next year's draft.

Miami is in search of a new starting quarterback after trading 2012 first-round draft pick Ryan Tannehill to the Tennessee Titans last month.

The Dolphins signed NFL journeyman Ryan Fitzpatrick to be the heir apparent, but he told reporters after joining the team that "nothing is promised" and he wasn't guaranteed a starting role.

Dolphins general manager Chris Grier said Saturday he expects Rosen to compete with Fitzpatrick for the job.

"Josh will come in and compete," Grier said. "There are no starters. The guys who produce on the practice field and do all of the things that will help this team win, those are the guys who are going to play."

Rosen also took to Twitter in a video message to thank Arizona fans for his "unbelievable time here in the desert, but unfortunately my time here is coming to an end." He also said Arizona was "getting a hell of a player in Kyler Murray."

A three-year starter at UCLA, Rosen left school after his junior season and thought he found a home in Arizona, where he signed a four-year deal worth nearly $17.84 million. But the Cardinals struggled throughout the 2018 season, finishing with the worst record in the NFL. In doing so, Arizona found itself in position to have the first pick in the 2019 draft.

The Cardinals fired Wilks after just one season and turned to the recently fired Kingsbury, a quarterback guru who was briefly hired as Southern California's offensive coordinator before bolting to the NFL.

Kingsbury had recruited Murray in college and kept in touch with him through the years, leading to rampant speculation that Arizona would go in another direction at quarterback in 2019.

Throughout the ordeal, Rosen remained the consummate professional, never mouthing off on the team that drafted him.

Instead, Rosen seemed to embrace the situation that led to his journey across the country to South Florida.

"Miami, I couldn't be more excited to become a Dolphin," Rosen said in the video. "I'm ready to attack this new chapter in my life and give you guys everything I have each and every day."

First-year Miami head coach Brian Flores said the team did its homework on Rosen and came away impressed.

"I think he's smart, he works hard and football is important to him," Flores said. "I think he's got an opportunity, just like all the other players we have here, to come in here and help this team win games. That's really what it boils down to."

Grier was hesitant to call Rosen a franchise quarterback, but admitted he has a chance to become one.

"I would say for us, we looked at it as an opportunity to add a good, young football player that has a lot of potential in this league," Grier said. "We didn't go out saying he has to be a franchise quarterback for us. … For us, the value was tremendous that we couldn't afford to pass up."

Now it's time to meet him.