Los Angeles Rams star cornerback Jalen Ramsey had one of the toughest seasons of his career in 2022. He wasn’t alone, as the defending Super Bowl champions fell flat, going 5-12 in the worst single season for a defending Super Bowl champion ever.
In cap hell and with very little draft capital to upgrade the roster, there has been a lot of speculation about some moves that the Rams could make this offseason to alleviate that. One of the possibilities is exploring the trade market for Jalen Ramsey.
Jalen Ramsey had a down season, by his lofty standards, but is still more than capable of being a lockdown No. 1 cornerback. He tied his career-high with four interceptions and set a career-high with 18 passes defended and 88 total tackles.
The role he was asked to play this season was different from what he has done in the past as he also registered the first two sacks of his career and two of his five career quarterback hits. Adjusting to the new scheme likely played a role in what was perceived as struggles in 2022.
Jalen Ramsey was not named a Pro Bowler or All-Pro for the first time since his rookie season in 2016, so the Rams could technically be selling low on him. While they wouldn’t be able to get the same amount of value they paid for him when he was acquired from the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Rams would still get a nice return of draft capital and salary cap savings.
If he were to be made available, there are plenty of teams that would line up to acquire him. One of those teams could be the Dallas Cowboys. Jerry Jones will do everything he can to make them Super Bowl contenders again and snap their seven-game Divisional Round losing streak.
Adding Jalen Ramsey to bookend Trevon Diggs would give the Cowboys arguably the best cornerback duo in the NFL. Teams would certainly have challenges moving the ball down the field against those two playmaking ball hawks, but it won’t come cheap,
To land him, the Cowboys could offer their first and fourth-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft in addition to a second-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. A restructured contract could then be worked out so that Jalen Ramsey better fits into the salary cap situation that Dallas has and they can continue upgrading their roster elsewhere.
Still only 28, Jalen Ramsey should have plenty more years of impact football ahead of him. This would be a move out of the book of Dallas’ NFC East rivals, the Philadelphia Eagles, who revamped their secondary in recent seasons by acquiring Darius Slay and James Bradberry.
