Jalen Ramsey has been with the Dolphins for the past two seasons, but his time in Miami may soon be coming to an end. Team and player have mutually agreed to “explore trade options,” Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero of NFL Network report.
No deadline is in place for a potential deal to be worked out, per the report, but the draft looms as a logical deadline on that front. Cornerback already represents a position of need for the Dolphins with Ramsey in the fold. Moving on from the seven-time Pro Bowler would create an even larger vacancy at that spot, but Rapoport and Pelissero note it would not come as a surprise if a trade were to take place.
The No. 5 pick in the 2016 draft, Ramsey quickly established himself as one of the league’s top cover men during his tenure with the Jaguars. Midway through his fourth season in Jacksonville, he was traded to the Rams and subsequently extended on a five-year, $100MM deal. Ramsey remained in Los Angeles through the end of the 2022 campaign, earning a pair of his three first-team All-Pro nods along the way. He was then traded again, however, this time to the Dolphins.
Upon arrival in Miami, Ramsey agreed to a restructure but he later worked out another lucrative accord. This past September, the Florida State product signed a three-year extension averaging $24.1MM. That figure moved him back to the top of the pecking order in terms of annual compensation for corners at the time, although the market has since continued to move upward. Ramsey is on the books for four more years, although he is only due a guaranteed base salary for 2025.
The 30-year-old already collected a $4MM roster bonus last month, but the remainder of his compensation – including $21.1MM fully locked in – would become the responsibility of his new team in the event of a trade. Miami would be hit with a $25.21MM dead money charge if a deal were to be worked out before June 1, making a pre-draft deal financially challenging. If a swap were to occur after June 1, by contrast, the Dolphins would see $9.92MM in cap savings while generating only a $6.75MM dead money hit.
Ramsey is set to carry a cap charge of $16.66MM in 2025, but that figure is scheduled to spike in the coming years. Another restructure of his pact on the part of an acquiring team would thus come as no surprise, although the number of suitors will be limited based on finances. As teams prepare to add their draft classes to their offseason rosters and make late-stage free agent moves, few have enough idle cap space to comfortably absorb Ramsey’s deal; it will be interesting to see how much of a market exists on the trade front.
After being limited to 10 games by a knee injury in 2023, Ramsey logged a full campaign last season. He notched a pair of interceptions (continuing his streak of recording at least one every year in the league), and added 11 pass deflections. Pro Football Reference listed Ramsey with underwhelming numbers in coverage, but PFF evaluation in that department helped him land a top-10 grade for corners. While age and finances will give plenty of teams pause, Ramsey (when healthy) will still be counted on to operate as a versatile No. 1 corner if he lands on a fourth career team.
The Dolphins will once again have Kader Kohou in place to handle slot cornerback duties next season, but their decision to cut Kendall Fuller left them in need of drafting a starting-caliber option on the perimeter. That situation will be duplicated if Ramsey winds up being dealt, a scenario worth watching for over the coming days.
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