On May 27th, Jalen Ramsey tweeted “5…” while this could be about his jersey number, it is far more likely to be about the June 1st deadline when the Miami Dolphins will be able to part ways with the All-Pro Cornerback without incurring significant cap penalties. The dead cap number of $25 million is likely a big part of what has kept Ramsey with the Dolphins since the team made it clear the sides were parting ways in April.
If Ramsey is to be traded after June 1st, the dead cap would be only $7 million, a number that is easier for Miami to work around.
With June 1st only being 5 days away, I thought it would be worth looking back at the trade that brought Ramsey to the Dolphins in the first place and try to determine if the team got a decent return on their investment.
Jalen Ramsey was a big part of the Los Angeles Rams’ championship run in 2021. After wearing out his welcome in Jacksonville, Ramsey was traded to the Rams in 2019 during the final year of his rookie deal. The team then signed him to a 5 year, $100 million extension in 2020.
In 2021, with the addition of Matthew Stafford on offense, Los Angeles was all in on chasing a Lombardi trophy. Ramsey would have a great season, tying his career high in interceptions and receiving a grade of 84.4 by Pro Football Focus, before winning a Super Bowl and being named the 9th best player in the league on the NFL Top 100 players list. After another Pro Bowl season in 2022, he would be traded to the Miami Dolphins, who seemed to be following the blueprint created by the Rams in terms of trading for talent in order to compete for a Super Bowl title.
The Dolphins would send tight end Hunter Long and a 2023 third-round pick in return for Ramsey. While Hunter Long has only recorded seven receptions for 60 yards in his run for the Rams, the 3rd round pick turned into Bryon Young, a linebacker who has shown promise in his first two seasons with 15.5 total sacks to go along with 123 tackles.
Ramsey would tear his meniscus in training camp and not premiere until the end of October in a game against the New England Patriots, where he did record an interception. The Dolphins would go on to lose in the playoffs to the eventual champions, the Kansas City Chiefs, but Ramsey would still be considered one of the top players in the league, finishing 25th in the NFL top 100 at the end of the season.
The 2024 season saw Ramsey start all 17 games for the Dolphins, but his numbers were rather pedestrian. He ended the season with 60 tackles and two interceptions. Ramsey received an overall grade of 76.9 from Pro Football Focus. This wouldn’t be so bad had Miami not given him a 3 year $72.3 million contract extension, ensuring that he would be the highest-paid corner in the league, while making moving off of him complicated. He was being paid like the best cornerback in the league, but not playing like it.
Even so, I don’t think that many people expected the Dolphins and Ramsey to part ways after only two seasons and 27 games.
However, Chris Grier announced that they were searching for a potential trade partner on April 15th, 2025. Since then, we’ve all just been waiting to see what would happen, and as Ramsey pointed out, we most likely only have 5 more days to wait for an ending to this saga.
While the Dolphins didn’t give up too much to acquire Ramsey, the real cost is the money they invested in him. His huge salary will diminish the number of potential trade partners for the Dolphins. The trade brought a lot of excitement when it was announced, but in a few years, I think he will be remembered similarly to Brandon Marshall or Mike Williams, star players who had forgettable tenures in Miami.
Ultimately, the lack of on-field production and negative vibes that have come with Ramsey aren’t worth what the Dolphins gave up for him. The hope was that he would bring with him the type of success he experienced with the Rams, but all we have to show for the trade is a single playoff loss in the freezing weather at Arrowhead.
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