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INDIANAPOLIS - The debate still rages about whether the Giants were right to pass on a franchise quarterback in last year's draft to take Saquon Barkley second overall. As far as the Giants are concerned, of course, their decision couldn't have worked out better.
But just imagine if they could've come out of that draft with Barkley and a quarterback, too.
They can't re-do the 2018 draft, but they could still get one of the quarterbacks from that class, if the Arizona Cardinals put Josh Rosen, the No. 10 overall pick, on the trading block this spring. That certainly seems to be a possibility now, especially after multiple NFL sources told SNY on Friday that they strongly believe the Cardinals are targeting Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray with the top pick in this year's draft.
And since the Giants heavily scouted the 22-year-old Rosen last year and had some interest in him prior to the draft, they will surely be interested again on at least some level if the Cardinals' asking price is right.
It's all speculation at this point, but several league sources thought the Giants could get Rosen in that scenario without giving up a first-round pick. They'd likely have to part with their second-round pick - 37th overall - and likely something else. But that's a small price to pay for a young quarterback who could lead the franchise for the next 10-15 years.
And that's clearly what Giants GM Dave Gettleman is looking for, with 38-year-old quarterback Eli Manning entering the final year of his contract. Gettleman spoke of his dream to find the Giants their next franchise quarterback and use "the Kansas City model" to have a young player sit behind Manning for a year before he's ready to play.
That led to speculation that he was ready to use the No. 6 overall pick in the draft on a quarterback, but many around the league think the top two quarterbacks in the draft - Murray and Ohio State's Dwayne Haskins - will be off the board by then. The Giants also think they're gearing up for a playoff run this season, so using a Top-10 pick on a player who won't play right away doesn't help them fill their many holes.
Trading for Rosen would allow Gettleman to use the sixth pick on a pass rusher or an offensive lineman, and he could still get the young quarterback he craves and let him develop into Manning's heir.
Rosen does come with some issues, though. Prior to last year's draft, there were many around the league who wondered if he had the personality to handle the spotlight in New York. And word around the league was that the Cardinals were down on him a bit after a rocky rookie season in which he completed just 55.2 percent of his passes for 2,278 yards with 11 touchdowns and 14 interceptions in 14 games.
Perhaps that feeling was coming through a bit when Arizona GM Steve Keim was asked on Wednesday if Rosen was the Cards' quarterback and he answered, "He is right now, for sure."
New Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury, who said last October (when he was the coach at Texas Tech) that Murray should be the No. 1 overall pick in this draft, was much more complimentary about Rosen's abilities.
"He's a tremendous talent," Kingsbury said. "I feel like he got better as the season went on last year. Showed a lot of mental toughness and competitiveness. The talent is obviously there. He's very cerebral and I just like the way he fought at the end of the year through some adverse conditions. He never turned it down. He continued to get up and he continued to fight and compete his tail off until the end."
They could still be willing to get rid of him, though, because the 5-10, 207-pound Murray - who has a meeting scheduled with the Cardinals this week - seems like he'd be a much better fit for Kingsbury's "Air Raid" offense. Rosen, meanwhile, was thought to be the most NFL-ready quarterback in last year's draft - although in the end his season paled in comparison to most of the other first-rounders.
Many quarterbacks - including Manning - have had poor rookie seasons, though, only to go on to stellar careers. And getting a year to sit and learn behind someone like Manning -- instead of Sam Bradford like he did for the first few games last year -- can only help him get ready.
Whether it happens or not depends on how serious the Cards are about Murray, but if they decide to take him then Rosen has to be a quarterback for the Giants to consider, even as they ponder drafting someone like Haskins. Many scouts think the quarterbacks in this year's class rank behind all five of the quarterbacks that went in the first-round last year anyway.
And there's no doubt if the Giants knew last year they could get Barkley and Rosen, they would have absolutely jumped at the chance.