As you may or may not have heard, the Arizona Cardinals used their first overall pick to draft Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray last week. This wasn’t the most shocking move considering the Cardinals hired Kliff Kingsbury, of Air Raid Offense fame, who has been a Murray fan for years and has developed a system for which Murray is considered an excellent fit. Then again, if you only got your news from Cardinals’ social media, you might have been a bit surprised to see General Manager Steve Keim select a quarterback with his first round pick for consecutive seasons.

Y’all are having fun with speculation, but… pic.twitter.com/dy4NbJ82iB

— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) February 12, 2019

Lookit, I never gave Josh Rosen‘s NFL career much thought when he was drafted by Arizona last year. This is a franchise that markets itself as radically transformed since Simple Mike Bidwill took over a decade ago. However, their limited success came from the twilight performances of seasoned vets Kurt Warner and Carson Palmer while failing to even halfway develop any young quarterbacks. Matt Leinart, Max Hall, Logan Thomas, John Skelton — why would Josh Rosen be any different? He was drafted to a team in need of a top to bottom rebuild and the man they entrusted to develop Rosen (behind the veteran leadership of Sam Bradford) was OC Mike McCoy, who was fired by Halloween.

Also, we all know the B.S. games teams play regarding players and draft picks. It’s part of the business. So yeah, it’s too bad that Rosen got all hyped up by the organization all offseason as a ploy to make their #1 overall pick seem more attractive to potential trade suitors but what are you gonna do? I don’t blame the Cardinals for playing the game and I don’t blame Rosen for unfollowing the team’s social media accounts the night they became this.

And, honestly, it’s actually pretty hard to pass any judgement whatsoever on Arizona’s decision considering this franchise is much closer to this:

Than this.

But there is a lesson to be learned for many a amateur quarterback (or RG3, if he has a time machine) who are watching Rosen pack his bags for a team whose fan base is already praying for a repeat performance of his rookie season so they can draft Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa as their latest stab at a franchise QB in 2020. There is nothing in sports like the career trajectory of the NFL quarterback. A position so strongly dependent on its coaches, the defense, as well as offensive teammates to just have the opportunity to showcase your strengths. The right situation is everything for a rookie quarterback — especially now that “Day 1 Starter” is pretty much the expectation for anyone picked in the first two rounds.

Colin Kaepernick was a late second round pick on a then-impressive 49ers team that let him sit for a year and half behind Alex Smith. Kaepernick then led the 49ers to an NFC title. This was the epitome of a good situation.

Russell Wilson — same thing. Tom Brady (with the help of Alex Guerrero’s PEDs) — same thing. Heck, remember this?

But these are late picks. Guys who really should just be happy to be drafted. Whose dreams are fulfilled by simply wearing the jersey and taking the field for a couple special teams plays in a Week 4 blowout. What about the early first-round talents?

Eli Manning made it known to San Diego that he didn’t want to be a Charger. He was subsequently draft-and-traded to New York where he has gone on to win two Super Bowls and accrue a $100 million net worth. No one knocks Eli as a bad locker room guy or not a committed member of the Giants because he let pre-LA know before the draft that he wasn’t interested.

Ryan Leaf blew off a pre-draft meeting with Colts brass to signal his disinterest with the franchise. Yeah, it’s a joke on the Chargers history but do you see the Colts skulking about being forced to draft Peyton Manning first by default? More importantly, does anyone blame Leaf’s spiral down drug addiction and criminality on his decision to refuse signing with an organization led by Jim Irsay?

After a season or two of blowhard sports media complaining, even the old biddies who make up ESPN’s college football talking head analysis have come to accept that players are going to sit out bowl games to avoid pre-draft injuries. It’s a business.

So why are players — specifically early round QBs — still allowing themselves to be drafted by raging dumpster fire franchises with the understanding that, once the shine of being a top pick wears off, their entire career is hanging on the prayer that a Sean McVay arrives to salvage the team…and decides to keep you around while he does so.

No one cares. Not teams. Not fans. Not analysts. Not nobody. These teams are climbing over each other at the chance to sign any running back who can hit a hole as hard as he hits his 19 year old girlfriend. Got a passion for PEDs? Good — just don’t get caught. Hell, San Francisco just signed Nick Bosa at #2 because he can bend the corner. You think Jed York even hesitated for a second that Bosa is a slightly-closeted racist? Hell — that’s probably why York is already planning Bosa’s 2034 run for mayor!

I’m not saying every player can be choosey but, for those who can be, why not? The 2018 QB class  — Baker Mayfield (CLE), Sam Darnold (NYJ), Josh Allen (BUF), Josh Rosen (ARI), Lamar Jackson (BAL) —  were all top-ten picks except Jackson, until the third round. Teams who need a quarterback NEED A QUARTERBACK. The Jets, Bills, Cardinals, and Ravens all traded up to get QBs.

Of this group, Mayfield seems poised to be the leader of a Browns team that was ready to turn the corner in ’18 and did so. At the rate Cleveland is going, Mayfield will get a huge contract just being a pro-caliber Brown draftee. Darnold is locked on a rebuilding Jets team and is safe, though he will be out the door and relegated to permanent backup duty if this new uniform scheme doesn’t fix everything for Gang Green. Allen is done because he’s on the Bills and no Bills quarterback has life after draft day. Same for Rosen. Jackson, the last pick, has displaced aging Joe Flacco on a historically well-run franchise and looks poised to, at least, have the shot at a nice little career.

So this has turned into a long rambling mess but my point is this. If I were the agent for any quarterback in college today who might become a first round pick, I would not let them even interview with Arizona, Washington, or Buffalo and would keep veto authority if Jacksonville, NYJ, Miami, Cleveland or Cincinnati called. There is just too much potential for these front offices to kill a kid’s career before he ever gets the chance to even display his talent (or lack thereof).

That or they’ll just be dead behind a swiss cheese offensive line — which is why most of these teams need to find a quarterback in the first place. Then again…