All signs are pointing toward the Los Angeles Rams making a trade with the Miami Dolphins for cornerback Jalen Ramsey, according to NFL Network analyst Marc Ross.
“If there were many landing spots for [Ramsey] — you fill your needs in the draft, now who’s left? It seems that the Rams would be that trade partner,” Ross said Thursday on NFL Network’s Path to the Draft.
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Los Angeles entered the 2025 NFL draft with a need at cornerback, but didn’t pick any with their six selections. Three were spent on offensive skill position players and the other three were a defensive end and two linebackers. That left the team’s underwhelming secondary in need of a boost.
Prior to the draft, Rams general manager Les Snead told reporters that he’d been in talks with the Dolphins about a deal, and head coach Sean McVay welcomed the idea of a reunion. The team’s brass had more to say about Ramsey earlier this week after the draft.
“There is a tremendous amount of appreciation that we have for Jalen, the time that we spent,” McVay said. “He and I have really stayed in touch. I know it’s the same thing with [passing game coordinator] Aubrey [Pleasant] and some of our other coaches. There’s a lot of familiarity, but we’re probably in the same position when we talked about it the other day just because there are some things that we still need to take care of to be able to truly get through the draft from the totality of it all.”
On Wednesday, Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated wrote that the Rams “would love to have” Ramsey back in the fold after trading him to Miami a couple years ago, but his salary has been a sticking point. Via Breer:
“The money is the issue for the Rams and any other potential suitor, and the Miami Dolphins who are trying to move him as well. He’s due $25.1 million this year, and all but $865,000 of it is fully guaranteed. At this point of the offseason, very few teams have the cash in the budget or room on the cap to take that salary on. In a special circumstance, you might make it work. But as good as Ramsey still is, I don’t know that there are many teams that would look at acquiring him in that way.
“So, at that point, you’d be looking for the Dolphins to take on a chunk of the money to essentially “buy” a draft pick as part of the deal to offload Ramsey and his guarantees.
“I think a deal with the Rams would probably require that. And I wouldn’t be against it for them, either. I think Ramsey can still play corner and could have a second life as an NFL player, a la Rod Woodson, as a safety down the line.”
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Ramsey and the Dolphins mutually agreed to hunt for a trade earlier this offseason. While Miami general manager Chris Grier didn’t offer much explanation for the split, one report said that the cornerback’s relationship with head coach Mike McDaniel is “irreparably broken.”
This article originally appeared on Dolphins Wire: Jalen Ramsey trade: Rams seem set to deal for Dolphins CB, per report