NFL Rumors: With Trade Talk Dying Down, Jacksonville Jaguars Focusing On Paying Jalen Ramsey And Keeping Him
The trade rumors surrounding Jalen Ramsey seem to be dying down, and new reports are indicating that the Jacksonville Jaguars are focusing on paying their star cornerback and keeping him on the team.
After Ramsey asked for a trade amid discontentment with the team’s front office, there were a number of teams connected to the All-Pro cornerback. But a new report from Pro Football Talk indicates that the Jaguars have changed course and now intend to keep Ramsey and make him the NFL’s highest-paid cornerback.
The report noted that the Jaguars could offer Ramsey a six-year, $77.7 million offer that would put him ahead of Dolphins cornerback Xavien Howard and Redskins cornerback Josh Norman to be the top-paid corner in the league. If Ramsey wanted more, the team could go as high as six years and $90 million, the report added.
“But, hey, if that’s what it takes to make Ramsey happy, that’s what it takes,” the report stated. “And if in a few years he’s not happy with the fact that others have leapfrogged him and he decides he wants a new deal, then give it to him — if he’s still the best cornerback in the game.”
There had been a string of reports earlier in the week that teams were interested or inquiring about Jalen Ramsey. As The Inquisitr noted, the Miami Dolphins and Minnesota Vikings were both seen as potential landing spots for the talented cornerback, but it’s not clear if any of those talks grew serious.
The report noted that the Jaguars were seeking a first-round pick and at least one other pick, which could have been as high as another first. That was seen as a steep price, indicating that the Jaguars didn’t want to trade their defensive leader and instead want to keep him as a key piece of their rebuilding effort.
Jaguars currently have no deal in the works to trade Jalen Ramsey; it's likely he stays with team the longer he waits, per @RapSheet
Ramsey's trade request still stands pic.twitter.com/HiHDkWtZvd
— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) September 21, 2019
Jalen Ramsey had been open about his unhappiness with the team, saying publicly on Uninterrupted’s 17 Weeks that he was angry at the “disrespectful things” said about him by the team, which led him to ask his agent to engineer a trade out of Jacksonville. In the team’s Week 2 loss to the Houston Texans, Ramsey was seen in a heated argument with Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone on the sidelines.
The Jaguars have not commented publicly about plans for Ramsey, but the cornerback was on the field for the team’s win on Thursday night over the Tennessee Titans, another sign that he’s not going anywhere.
