3 Factors Working Against Rams as Potential Jalen Ramsey Destination

Trading for the same player twice in his career is extremely rare. Insider Jeremy Fowler said Sunday morning the Rams consummating a second trade to acquire All-Pro Jalen Ramsey is something the cornerback wouldn’t veto.

“Ramsey’s old team is on his radar as a potential option,” Fowler said on Sunday’s edition of SportsCenter. “Nothing moving there as of yet. He should have a new team this fall.”

Miami general manager Chris Grier confirmed before the draft the Dolphins are shopping Ramsey, and head coach Mike McDaniel said last week nothing has changed with regard to the team’s intent to move him. Fowler said the primary obstacle is one specific line in Ramsey’s contract.

“The expectation is that Ramsey will be traded in the coming days and weeks,” Fowler said. “They can save about $10 million on their salary cap if they do so. That is not the issue. He’s got $24 million guaranteed. That is the major issue here. Teams have been a little spooked by that.”

That’s the first factor working against the Rams’ ability to acquire Ramsey. According to OvertheCap.com, the Rams have a little less than $20 million in salary-cap space but acquiring Ramsey could wind up hurting Los Angeles in the long run, at least from an accounting perspective. Head coach Sean McVay said last week that while the Rams have had discussions with Miami, those talks haven’t reached meaningful or tangible levels.

“There are a lot of layers with something of that magnitude,” McVay said, “when you're talking about the caliber of the player, the compensation that they're looking for in return, what does that look like in terms of how they want to handle what he's actually due?

“Obviously, we love Jalen. We know Jalen intimately. There would be some things that we would need to be able to do if that was going to be a direction that we went.”

That’s the second factor working against the Rams. Those things they’d need to be able to do include future draft capital, and Miami obviously wouldn’t settle for a South Beach Cuban sandwich and a plate of stone crablegs. Ramsey is a seven-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro who earned a Super Bowl ring with the Rams in 2021.

Ironically, the first time Los Angeles traded for Ramsey marked one of the rare instances in which dealing a future first-rounder actually worked out for the team acquiring the player.

And while Los Angeles has two first-round selections in 2026 after the draft-night trade that allowed Atlanta to move up and draft James Pearce, don’t expect the Rams to deal either of those to acquire Ramsey.

The Rams also have their own second- and third-round choices next year, but Matthew Stafford’s future is uncertain and retaining those valuable assets seems wise with respect to potentially drafting their next franchise quarterback after this season. Plus, the team has already dealt its fourth- and seventh-round selections, so meeting the Dolphins’ price seems a bit unlikely.

And speaking of price, the third factor working against the Rams is the need to sign not only running back Kyren Williams to a contract extension, but Byron Young, Kobie Turner and Pro Bowl wide receiver Puka Nacua will be eligible for contract extensions a year from now.

Plus, since the Rams first acquired Ramsey from the Jaguars in 2019, they’ve undergone an organizational paradigm shift to a draft-and-develop model. Acquiring Ramsey, who turns 31 in October, would run contrary to that philosophy.

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