Was trading Jalen Ramsey the right move two years later?
Prior to the 2023 NFL Draft, the Los Angeles Rams made a shocking move in which they traded away star cornerback Jalen Ramsey. In return, the Rams received a third-round pick in the upcoming draft and tight end Hunter Long.
The return was nowhere near what the Rams paid back in 2020 to acquire the NFL’s top cornerback at the time when they gave up multiple first round picks. That type of return was always unlikely, but a third-round pick and depth tight end seemed low at the time.
While a tough decision, trading Ramsey was a necessary one. Following a disastrous 2022 season, it was clear that the Rams needed to off-load some contracts and bring in younger talent. Ramsey wasn’t old by any means, it cleared the Rams of a large cap-hit going forward. Following the trade, the Rams took on $19.6 million in dead money, but were able to clear the way for 2024 to spend on free agents such as Jonah Jackson and Kam Curl.
Said head coach Sean McVay about Jalen Ramsey this week,
“We have a cool relationship and he knows the respect and the admiration that I have for him as a player and what he meant to this team. There were a lot of tough decisions that were on the horizon for us as a football team and it didn’t have anything to do with us not wanting him here. There were a lot of things that we had to do as a result of some previous years and things of that nature. He understood that.”
The Rams were set to go through an active re-build. That process included dumping big contracts and bringing in younger talent that the team could move forward with and build around for a push in 2025 and beyond. Unfortunately, that plan simply didn’t include Ramsey.
In some of these trades, the draft pick that was acquired doesn’t become even half the player they were trade for in the move. For example, when the Jacksonville Jaguars traded away Ramsey they ended up with K’Lavon Chaisson, Travis Etienne, and Jordan Smith. Etienne has been a fine running back at times, but Chaisson was a bust and Smith hasn’t been anything in the NFL.
However, on the Rams side, they acquired a third-round pick that turned out to be Byron Young. Young has been a solid complementary edge rusher over the last two years. He may not be a star on the edge, but he’s a good secondary piece to have across from a star player such as Jared Verse. Tight end Hunter Long has been injured for much of the last two years. Still, when he has been healthy, he has shown some blocking upside.
Injuries are hard to predict and there’s no guarantee Ramsey would have gotten hurt if he stayed with the Rams. Ramsey spent most of his first season with the Dolphins injured with a torn meniscus. Still, in 10 games he had three interceptions and five passes defended. His three interceptions would have tied with Witherspoon and Jordan Fuller for most on the defense. This year, he is Pro Football Focus’ highest-graded cornerback.
Ever since Ramsey left, the Rams have certainly missed his physicality and presence at cornerback. Last season, the Rams got by With Ahkello Witherspoon and Derion Kendrick on the outside. This season has been another ‘put duct tape on the issue’ type of year. Tre White didn’t work out as hoped while Darious Williams has been fine and Witherspoon was brought back, but has given up big plays.
The Rams were never going to replace Jalen Ramsey and what he did for the defense. With that said, they haven’t necessarily tried to through the draft. The position remains one of their bigger needs heading into the 2025 offseason.
Outside of trading for Matthew Stafford, the acquisition of Ramsey is probably the most important move in the “F them picks” era. With the Rams, Ramsey was a two-time first-team All-Pro selection, including the 2021 Super Bowl season. He also made a Pro Bowl in every season with the Rams.
It’s a move that has worked out for both sides and is a rare win-win trade. The Rams got what they wanted out of it which is a clean salary cap and young defensive building block with the draft pick. On the other side, the Dolphins have a very good cornerback on their defense and Ramsey is still playing at a high level despite having lost half a step.
Almost two years later, the Rams likely do the same exact thing and trade Ramsey to the Dolphins. They needed to move on into a new era and unfortunately, trading Ramsey was a repercussion of that.