Jalen Ramsey’s agent, David Mulugheta, confirmed he has requested a trade for his client.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 16, 2019
One league source said he believes Jaguars’ CB Jalen Ramsey could be traded this week, that once there is a sideline confrontation between a head coach and a player, both sides have to move on.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 16, 2019
Jalen Ramsey is a stunning athlete. One of the best to enter the league in recent memory. He ran a 4.41 at the combine and jumped a 41.5 inch vertical. He’s 6-1 and 209lbs with 33.5 inch arms. That’s insane.
If you were going to create an ideal cornerback — this is what it would look like. Ramsey is the kind of physical talent you dream about. It’s no surprise he’s developed into one of the NFL’s top defenders. He had nine interceptions in his first three years in the league and has earned a reputation for being a true shutdown corner capable of shadowing the likes of DeAndre Hopkins.
So what’s the situation here?
Things have been a little uneasy between Ramsey and Jacksonville for some time. There were issues a year ago. He’s eligible to receive a contract extension as a three-year veteran and yet hasn’t been extended despite his impact as a pro. He’s signed through 2020 because the Jaguars exercised the fifth year option on his contract.
Then this happened on Sunday — a very public sideline dispute between coach Doug Marrone and Ramsey.
A new deal in Jacksonville seems unlikely and the Jaguars might be preparing to cut their losses and move on instead of ending up in a mess similar to the Texans with Jadeveon Clowney.
Any trade would have to include a first round pick. Ramsey is simply too talented to depart for anything less — regardless of any bad blood between player and coach. If you’re willing to pay a first round pick to acquire him, you’ll need a new contract to be agreed before anything is finalised.
The Texans made a huge mistake (likely because they don’t have a GM) when they dealt for Laremy Tunsil without a new deal being in place. It’s simple bargaining sense to turn to the player and say, ‘we’re willing to trade for you — so do you want to stay on your rookie salary in Miami or come to Houston and sign this big new contract?’. By not extending him immediately, the Texans have ceded all leverage in future negotiations. The Tunsil camp will say, ‘you’ve spent a kings ransom on our client — we know you’re not going to let him walk’.
Any trade for Ramsey would need to come with an agreement on an extension — unless you want to run the risk of losing him by 2021.
So could the Seahawks potentially show interest here?
A few days ago I wrote that I thought a deal for Minkah Fitzpatrick was unlikely and I sense the same can be said of a deal for Ramsey (I’m not down on trades by the way, having written several articles on the likelihood of a trade for Jadeveon Clowney).
“I think Seattle really thought twice about paying Richard Sherman. They felt they had to when they won the Super Bowl…”
“…the scheme in Seattle allows you to find corners especially size/speed corners of which there’s a bundle of them in this draft that can play deep third of the defense, they’ll tackle and they can play within the scheme.”
Lombardi is quite right about Seattle’s scheme. The Seahawks are currently starting a converted fifth round safety and a third round pick at cornerback. In the LOB years they fielded a fifth rounder and a player plucked from the CFL. They’ve had reasonable success with a sixth rounder (Byron Maxwell) and a fourth rounder (Walter Thurmond). They’ve also found nickel cornerbacks on the cheap.
Compare this to the safety position where the Seahawks have placed a lot more value. They drafted Earl Thomas at #14 in Pete Carroll’s first draft. They’ve since added Marquise Blair in round two and spent a third round pick on Delano Hill.
That doesn’t mean the Seahawks would never want to go after a player like Jalen Ramsey. Like every other team in the league, you’d love to have a player of that athletic caliber. Are they likely, however, to invest major draft stock and then pay a record-breaking cornerback contract to make this a reality? The common sense answer to that is ‘not likely’.
Tre Flowers and Shaquille Griffin, without any disrespect intended, are not close to Ramsey’s level. They have, however, been coached into Seattle’s scheme and provide value at two starting positions. They do what the scheme asks of them. If Lombardi’s right and the Seahawks second-guessed paying Sherman because of how they view the position in their scheme, it seems most likely they’ll continue to teach and develop their own prospects without feeling the need to splurge.
This tweet from Ian Rapoport is also worth considering…
One of the best pure cover corners, Jalen Ramsey wants to play man-to-man and lock a WR down. One issue has been having him play zone https://t.co/7RIlT8bx4X
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 16, 2019
The Seahawks very rarely asked Richard Sherman to play man-to-man and lock down a receiver. He did it on rare occasions (I seem to recall when Pittsburgh visited Seattle in 2015 he shadowed Antonio Brown). Ramsey would mostly be playing in zone covering one side of the field — the exact thing he’s supposedly expressing he’s opposed to.
He’s a terrific player and if a team acquires him they will rightly celebrate their addition. If the Seahawks made a bold move to get him — it’d be a huge get. Nobody can dispute his talent and ability. This is only about how likely it is for Seattle.
I suspect the Seahawks have played their hand in terms of trades for 2019. The Clowney addition on a possible one-year rental was too good to ignore and filled a vital need on the D-line (imagine how porous the line would currently look without Clowney).
The compensation was cheap in terms of picks and salary. They had an extra third rounder and they could get it back if Clowney leaves as a free agent in the off-season.
The trade didn’t really shift them off a path they’ve been on for some time. They’ve been gradually rebuilding their depth with a new younger core. They seemingly deliberately collected picks for 2020 and have a good looking haul for next year. While it’s very true that they’ll look for any opportunity to add talent via trade — I think the deal has to be right for them (like the Clowney trade). Otherwise, they’re going to continue to build through the draft.
Ramsey might just be too expensive — in terms of picks and salary.
Fitzpatrick is a different situation. I wrote about my reservations there a few days ago. Has he got a fixed position? I know plenty of people dismissed that suggestion because this video basically hailed him as the second coming of Earl Thomas. Yet I think it’s relevant to ask why neither Alabama or Miami played him as a full-time free safety if he’s tailor-made for the role. If he’s best suited to playing nickel, is that really worth a first round pick via trade? Did you watch Jamar Taylor on Sunday and think, ‘he needs to be replaced by a first round player pronto’?
I also think the investment in Marquise Blair, the trust they have in Bradley McDougald and their willingness to pay a cheap price for the nickel position all makes a deal unlikely.
I’m not ruling it out 100% or anything like that. I’m just offering a view on why I personally can’t see it happening.
If they trade for Ramsey or Fitzpatrick in the next few days I’ll be the first to hold my hands up and admit I was wrong. I will say this though — Ramsey is a legit, proven, elite defender. Fitzpatrick remains as much a mystery as he did entering the league.
Here’s a prediction (if both players are dealt)…
Jalen Ramsey to San Francisco, Minkah Fitzpatrick to Green Bay.
The Niners have cap space and a 2-0 start might encourage them to be bold.
The Packers reportedly targeted Fitzpatrick in the 2018 draft and were going to take him at #14 if he lasted (he was taken at #11). Plus the Packers just IR’d one of their safety’s.
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