Ramsey Ready for 'New Chapter' and Rams Update

Jalen Ramsey isn't doing a countdown on social media after posting "5..." earlier this week, but the overall them of his impending departure from the Miami Dolphins remains.

As proof, his latest message concludes with the simple sentence: "A new chapter awaits."

Unless Ramsey considers each NFL season a new chapter in his career and life, this clearly refers to moving on from the Dolphins, which has become pretty much a foregone conclusion by this time.

"I’m grateful for each & every chapter so far!" Ramsey posted on X. "Every part brought me to a greater version of myself! Regardless of how things “ended, the journey has been LOVE!"

"For the record btw, i’ve loved every city i’ve played in & the fans who supported! the anger is very misplaced at times but sometimes valid too but real ones kno the intentions always solid! … a new chapter awaits."

Ramsey's NFL career so far included stops with the Jacksonville Jaguars, who made him the fifth overall selection in the 2016 draft, and the Los Angeles Rams.

RAMSEY UPDATE FROM THE RAMS

A return to the Rams has been mentioned as one possible outcome for the Ramsey situation, and head coach Sean McVay certainly didn't do anything to quash that speculation this week.

After saying earlier in the offseason bringing back Ramsey is something the team would consider under the right circumstances, McVay provided an update (or non-update) at Rams OTA.

McVay said he never would close the door on the possibility of adding someone of Ramsey's caliber, but then added: "There's not a whole lot that I have to offer. You know, there's a lot of layers with something of that magnitude 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. We certainly haven't closed the door on that, but there hasn't been a whole lot of dialogue as of late in regards to some of the communication. And so we'll see if that changes. But these things can happen quickly, but it's really kind of same as is what it was a couple weeks ago."

McVay did add that "things always change pretty quickly."

McDANIEL STAYS MUM ON RAMSEY

Before the Dolphins took the field for their second Organized Team Activity (OTA) of the spring, Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel was asked about Ramsey three different times and his answers made it clear he's not interested in getting into his relationship with Ramsey and/or what's at the core of the situation that has led to Ramsey being on the trade market.

"I mean, quite honestly, zero has changed since the last time I said anything about him," McDaniel responded to a question about whether Ramsey would be in attendance at OTAs. "I'm very much interested in the players that I'm coaching on the field today. And I think if you have a team that's focused on getting better each and every day, that's plenty for me to worry about. And I guess I'll leave it at that."

The next question dealt with whether McDaniel expected a resolution to the impasse before the start of veteran minicamp June 10.

"I'm really worried about the players that will be out on the field today," McDaniel replied. "And that's about as much breath as I want to speak into it."

Lastly, is McDaniel sad that the relationship with Ramsey went sideways?

"I'm very excited to coach a football team," was McDaniel's reply. "And that's not dismissing, but quite honestly, like everything's an opportunity cost. So I think it is quite honestly irresponsible for me to put down some of the thoughts and focus on the players that we're working now to build a performance for the season and concern myself with that. I think that's where I should be, I think."

McDaniel also didn't want to talk about his relationship with Ramsey after the 2025 draft, saying at the time he wanted to keep the focus on the new players the Dolphins had selected to join the team.

Maybe there'll come a time when McDaniel is OK with discussing what happened to get us to this point, but clearly that time hasn't arrived yet.

GET READY FOR MORE SPECULATION

As we indicated before, working out a trade involving Ramsey is easier said than done because of his age and the $21 million in guaranteed salary he's got coming in 2025 after the Dolphins already paid him a $4 million roster bonus in March.

Those two factors will limit the market for Ramsey, as well as what the Dolphins can expect to get in return, unless Miami is willing to absord some of Ramsey's salary to facilitate a trade.

Grier didn't dismiss the possibility of Ramsey being on the roster when the 2025 season kicks off, but it's not any easier to envision that actually happening now than it did when news of the impending divorce broke or when Ramsey posted on Instagram that picture of a rotting orange next to a rotten one.

And Anthony Weaver's comments this week certainly didn't sound like they were coming from a defensive coordinator expecting to be working with Ramsey again next season.

Before the "5" tweet, Ramsey had been very quiet on social media since the orange post, except for praising his former L.A. Rams defensive coordinator Evero in response to a clip of Ejiro Evero calling Ramsey one of the two most intelligent players he has coached, along with Ronde Barber.

Ramsey has not been featured in any of the Dolphins' social media posts of their offseason program work, but that's not any telltale sign because he trained in Tennessee last offseason.

The question with Ramsey is which team might be interested in making a deal for him and which team might he want to play for, understanding he kind of steered his way toward the Dolphins when the Los Angeles Rams traded him in 2023.

Evero is now DC of the Carolina Panthers, but that's a young team on the rise that might not be ready to contend or use a 30-year-old (turning 31 in October) cornerback. Ramsey also had a good relationship with Atlanta Falcons head coach Raheem Morris when he was an assistant with the Rams, as well as New Orleans Saints DC Brandon Staley.

But the Saints are in rebuilding mode.

Late last week, Jeremy Fowler from ESPN suggested the Dallas Cowboys, Washington Commanders and Los Angeles Rams as teams that could be interested, though that report got strong pushback from Dallas-based reporters.

The Rams certainly would make sense, and head coach Sean McVay sounded like somebody who'd like a return trade very much, though he pointed out the logistical obstacles to this kind of trade.

The Eagles also have been mentioned, though they've built their secondary around their top two 2024 draft pick (Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean) and let go popular cornerback Darius Slay in the offseason because he was deemed too pricey. Oh, and we don't have to remind Dolphins fans about Ramsey's relationship with Eagles DC Vic Fangio in their one year together in Miami.

The bottom line is it's difficult to believe that there won't be at least one team with which the Dolphins can work something out in terms of a trade and again the key date is June 1 — five days from now.

While Ramsey technically doesn't have a no-trade clause in his latest contract — one in a series of moves that don't look so good in retrospect for the Dolphins — no team would want to trade for a player with no desire to play for them. And the Dolphins can't threaten to simply cut Ramsey becuase he's got about $25 million guaranteed next season.

As good a player as Ramsey has been, any team looking into acquiring him recognizes his tremendous set of various skills, his physicality, versatility, football acumen, but also will realize he's on the wrong side of 30, he's expensive and he's high maintenance — he was labeled "disgruntled" by NFL.com after he was traded from Jacksonville to the Los Angeles Rams and now this.

Again, anytime a player of Ramsey's caliber is looking at a third trade in less than five years, something is amiss.

And it's why the Dolphins are going to get nowhere near what the Jaguars got for him from the Rams, which was two first-round picks, and might be lucky to get the equivalent of what they gave the Rams, which was a third-round pick along with a third-year tight end (Hunter Long) who had done little in his first two seasons after being a third-round pick.

THE TRADE TIMING ISSUE

Ramsey has four years left on his contract, but his guarantees run out after 2025.

His salary for 2025 is $24.2 million, all guaranteed, though it's mostly bonuses with his base salary only $1.3 million, per Over The Cap.

The cap number would go down to $6.7 million (with the remaining $18.5 million on the books in 2026) if the trade went down after June 1, though it clearly couldn't involve 2025 pick compensation.

Ramsey's cap number currently stands at $16.7 million for the Dolphins in 2025, but it would go to $25.2 million if he's traded before June 1 because his signing bonus no longer would be spread out over the next three years.

TRADE REASONS NOT REVEALED

While Grier declined to provide the exact reason Ramsey would like to move to another team, he did say that the issue was not contract-related and the cornerback did not specifically ask for a trade — though agreeing to explore trade options is not that far removed from being the same thing.

Grier also made clear this situation has been brewing for a bit.

"After a couple weeks of discussions between ourselves internally and Jalen and his representation, we decided that it was probably in the best interests for all parties to move forward," Grier said. "I will say these decisions aren't done quickly and they're not taken lightly because we spent a lot of time this offseason working through this, talking through things. At the end of the day, Jalen did not ask for a trade. So we went through the process and just felt that after numerous conversations and then talking last week with Jalen and his agent, that it was best to move forward and it was in the best interests of the Miami Dolphins and for Jalen Ramsey."

This is where one has to wonder if it's not about the contract, why would Ramsey be willing to switch teams just two years after being acquired from the Los Angeles Rams and returning to the state where he played his college football (Florida State)? And why would it be in the best interests for the Dolphins to trade their most talented defensive player?

"Really those discussions I'll keep internally," Grier said. "I'm not going to get out here and talk about it. But we had a lot of discussions on it and from both sides and at the end of the day, we felt this is what was best for the Dolphins and for Jalen."

The possibility of Ramsey even being on the roster in 2025 was brought up, and Grier didn't dismiss it out of hand, though the reality is that once this kind of story comes out, it's almost past a point of no return.

"Wen it happens, it'll happen. And if it doesn't, we'll deal with it then," Grier said. "Again, this was long discussions, I would say throughout the offseason. So this wasn't anything we rushed to and just said today, let's do this. So we're prepared if he's here, we'll deal with it and if he's not, we'll adjust as well. So we feel good about where it is. It's never easy to replace a player like Jalen. He was a good player for us, he's a good player, he'll probably be a Hall of Famer here. But for the Miami Dolphins going forward, we feel like this is the best chance to help us win, not only just this year, but in the future as well."

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