Sean McVay: Rams face 'obstacles' in potential Jalen Ramsey trade
The Los Angeles Rams have been highlighted as a potential Jalen Ramsey landing spot since the Miami Dolphins and their veteran cornerback mutually agreed to seek a trade ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft.
Rams coach Sean McVay has noted his appreciation for Ramsey – who played four seasons in Los Angeles and won Super Bowl 56 with the team – several times during the offseason.
However, McVay also explained there are "obstacles" in trading for a cornerback when asked about the position at Rams training camp Tuesday in Maui.
"Usually, those are scenarios and situations that you have to have plans in place prior to executing some of the decisions that have occurred," McVay said, per NFL.com. "Definitely don't want to rule anything out because we're always open-minded to onboarding and acquiring quality players and people like him if we're able to do that, but there would be some obstacles that are real that are in the place of maybe preventing that from occurring."
One of the largest such obstacles in a potential trade is Ramsey's contract. The 30-year-old signed a three-year, $72.3 million extension with the Dolphins ahead of the 2024 NFL season and will be due $91.8 million in total cash over the next four years, per Spotrac.com.
Ramsey has reasonable cap hit of just under $16.7 million in 2025. The Rams could absorb that into their current $21.9 million in salary cap space, per OverTheCap.com, easily enough.
But in each of the ensuing three seasons, Ramsey will carry a cap charge of at least $25 million. That makes him a high-cost acquisition, especially if a team is surrendering draft capital to get him.
That may be part of the reason McVay is throwing cold water on a deal coming together. If one doesn't, the Rams figure to rely on Darious Williams and Ahkello Witherspoon as their starters once again with returning players Cobie Durant, Emmanuel Forbes, Derion Kendrick, Quentin Lake and Josh Wallace fighting for roles alongside them.