It’s been said you can’t go home again, but Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay apparently doesn’t subscribe to that theory.
The Rams coach hinted at a potential move for the team to bring back star cornerback Jalen Ramsey, who is reportedly on the trading block from the Miami Dolphins.
Ramsey, who will turn 31 in October, went to the Pro Bowl in all four seasons as a member of the Rams and was named to two All-Pro teams before he was traded to Miami in March 2023. Ramsey was the shutdown cornerback on Los Angeles’ Super Bowl championship team in 2022, with 13 tackles and four passes defended in the playoffs of the Rams’ four-game run.
Despite his advancing age, Ramsey is coming off a solid season where he had 60 tackles, 11 passes defended and two interceptions. But Dolphins GM Chris Grier announced he would seek a trade for Ramsey last week, which is why the Rams have been linked to him.
“You would certainly never rule out the possibility of [bringing Ramsey back],” McVay said, according to Gary Klein of the Los Angeles Times. “There’s a lot of layers that would need to be worked out with a player of his magnitude, but you would never eliminate the possibility of adding a total stud.”
One of those players is Ramsey’s contract, which has four more seasons on it — his three-year, $72 million deal hasn’t even kicked in yet. Whoever acquires Ramsey will be on the hook for a $25 million cap hit that will rise over the life of the deal, which expires after 2028.
But cutting Ramsey after 2026 would net his future team more than $15 million in cap savings, which is why the win-now Rams have reportedly been in conversations with Grier for Ramsey. Los Angeles has a 37-year-old quarterback in Matthew Stafford and brought in veteran wide receiver Davante Adams to make its offense more potent.
LA’s pass defense could use a high-profile boost too, since it ranked 20th in the NFL in passing yards-against per game (223.1) and 19th in the league in points-against per game (22.7). Cornerback is considered Los Angeles’ most glaring need, and the most high-profile mock draft creators are projecting it to select an corner at the upcoming draft — though not necessarily with the club’s first-round selection, No. 26 overall.
The Rams did add linebacker Nate Landman and defensive tackle Poona Ford but have not made a significant addition to their secondary outside of re-signing Ahkello Witherspoon. Drafting a corner with one of LA’s mid-to-late-round picks — it has seven picks but only two in the top-100 — and adding Ramsey would constitute an upgrade.
Team reporter Stu Jackson reported that the Rams are trying to get through the draft before re-engaging with a potential Ramsey trade. The Dolphins are likely to wait until after June 1 to officially deal Ramsey too, since they would be on the hook for $25 million in dead cap if they traded him before the new league year but would save nearly $10 million in cap space if they deal him after June 1.
