The Miami Dolphins are looking to move star cornerback Jalen Ramsey this offseason, and it would appear there might be a frontrunner to acquire him.
After Dolphins general manager Chris Grier admitted that the team is indeed trying to trade Ramsey, the Los Angeles Rams were immediately speculated as a team that could trade for the seven-time Pro Bowler thanks to their need at the position, and with Ramsey’s ties to the team he won his only Super Bowl with.
The thought Ramsey could return to Los Angeles has picked up even more steam in recent days. First, Rams head coach Sean McVay said that talks about a Ramsey trade are “ongoing.”
“There’s not too much of an update,” McVay told Adam Schein on SiriusXM. “He is a total stud and you look at, obviously he has continued to play at a really high level. He and I have kept in great touch even since we ended up trading him to Miami. Special competitor, great person, great father.
“And so there are a lot of layers when you’re talking about a player of his caliber – ‘All right, with regards to the contract, the compensation that they would be looking for in exchange for receiving a player of his magnitude.’ And so those conversations are ongoing, as I’m sure they are with multiple teams,” McVay added. “And we’ll see, but we’re never going to shy away from opportunities to increase the competitiveness of our roster or add great players as long as it fits within the framework of everything that an acquisition like that would entail.”
As McVay points out, Ramsey’s contract will be a definite sticking point. His $72.3 million contract leaves him inked through 2028, when he’ll be 34 years old, and the deal has $24 million guaranteed left on it.
As Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer pointed out, the Dolphins are going to have to eat some of that money to make a deal work. On the plus side, that will help them garner a better draft pick in return. Breer also believes the Rams “would love to have” Ramsey.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler also pointed out that the guaranteed money is an issue for Miami’s goal of trading Ramsey. He, too, believes that the Rams are a strong option, assuming the financial matters can be hashed out.
“The sticking point here is that $24 million in guarantees,” Fowler said. “My sense after asking around is Miami has not been overly eager to cover some of that bill, which sort of makes a trade hard to pull off right now.
“L.A. Rams, it could be a reunion here. They’ve been in the mix here, they are a team to watch, certainly for Ramsey,” Fowler concluded.
Ramsey might not be the elite talent he once was, but he’s still a darn-good starter. The Dolphins cornerback gave up a completion rate of 62% and a passer rating of 83.2 last season, both numbers that were better than the Rams’ current projected starters, Darious Williams and Ahkello Witherspoon.
The Rams made an improbable run to the divisional round last season after they were written off going into the campaign. If Los Angeles wants to build on that, acquiring Ramsey would definitely help.
