Sean McVay politely dismisses buzz about Rams targeting former Pro Bowler to fill roster void

The Los Angeles Rams will enter 2025 with high expectations after taking the eventual Super Bowl champions to the brink last January. The Rams have made a number of big moves this offseason, including the free agent signing of wide receiver Davante Adams to help the team transition away from Cooper Kupp. Thanks to an unfolding saga in South Florida between former Ram Jalen Ramsey and the Miami Dolphins, many are expecting the Rams to pull off a similar move on the defensive side of the ball to mirror the addition of Adams at wide receiver. 

The emergence of cornerback Jaire Alexander into the free agent pool this week has opened the opportunity for teams to re-assess their interest in Ramsey and potentially pivot to another Pro Bowl talent at cornerback. The Rams, it seems, are unbothered. 

Sean McVay was asked about any potential interest yesterday during his media availability and, while he was complementary of Alexander as a talent, it doesn't seem as though there's much interest in pivoting off of the Rams' lingering interest in Ramsey as a preferred option — albeit a complicated one. 

“We haven’t had a lot of those discussions. There are so many layers to the Jalen conversation. Obviously, with Jaire, a lot of respect for him as a player, haven’t talked about those types of things...(GM) Les Snead and I have had some dialogue and discussions as it relates to the Jalen thing, but there’s really no news to report on. And with Jaire, nothing but respect for the player, but I don’t know if that’s a direction that we would go.”

The layers to the Ramsey situation are obvious. He's due an additional $21 million in compensation this season and the Rams don't want to pay it. Given the addition of Alexander to the free agent market, the list of teams that may be keen on continuing to negotiate with the Dolphins over compensation and money may be fewer. This, in turn, gives the Rams more leverage to hold out for the Dolphins to get desperate to move on from Ramsey. 

There will be a point in which the Dolphins' willingness to pay up will coax more than one suitor to the table, so it seems unlikely that the Rams can wait out the Dolphins into eating his fully guaranteed salary — making it no sure thing that the Rams can completely stiff Miami and get Ramsey as a free agent in the weeks ahead. 

Both Alexander and Ramsey are big personalities, too. This makes the familiarity between McVay, Snead and Ramsey critical in their potential interest, especially relative to an alternative path with Alexander. But they'll need the Dolphins to make concessions that Miami is, apparently, unwilling to make at this stage of the game. 

For all parties involved, it at least is helpful to know that McVay seems to be skeptical about a potential pivot to Jaire Alexander instead.