It’s officially past June 1. Will the Rams trade for Jalen Ramsey?

Once seen as inevitable, a Ramsey return now feels far less certain. Here’s why the Rams may stay patient.

The Los Angeles Rams trading for cornerback Jalen Ramsey has almost seemed inevitable at this point. However, if you were to ask head coach Sean McVay, nothing seems too imminent. Said McVay during the first week of Organized Team Activities, “I would say this, there really hasn’t been any meaningful, tangible dialogue as of late.”

In one sense, that might be what a head coach is expected to say in that situation. At the same time, McVay also has a history of not having a very good poker face. He wears his emotion on his sleeve and that has always been the case.

Even if a trade wasn’t going to happen until after June 1, you may still have seen a smirk or knowing smile from the Rams head coach. Instead, this was his answer when asked about the June 1 date that has been set,

“Obviously, we love Jalen. We know Jalen intimately. There would be some things that we would need to be able to do if that was going to be a direction that we went. We certainly haven’t closed the door on that, but there hasn’t been a whole lot of dialogue as of late in regard to some of the communication and so we’ll see if that changes.”

Either McVay has gotten much better at hiding his cards or the Rams and Dolphins really aren’t that close on completing a deal. It’s also worth noting that the Rams aren’t the only team involved. The Dallas Cowboys have also been rumored to be in the Ramsey discussions.

Trading for Ramsey this time around is much different than it was back in 2019. At that point, the Rams were just entering the “F them picks” timeline and pushing to go all in for a Super Bowl. While the Rams are pushing for one last run at a Super Bowl with quarterback Matthew Stafford, they are also simultaneously living in two timelines.

While McVay joked about trading away the team’s extra first round pick saying, “For now, we do. For now…,” it would be a surprise if the Rams did trade that asset away. The return would have to be for a bona fide star that matches their current timeline. This is a team that is trying to sustain success post-Stafford, not have the bottom crash out. Ramsey may be a good player and be an upgrade in the secondary. At the same time, he’s also not worth a first-round pick at this point in his career. This isn’t the All-Pro level cornerback that the Rams traded for and then traded away later.

There’s no rush for the Rams to trade for Ramsey. He knows the defensive system, having played under Brandon Staley, Raheem Morris, and having familiarity with Chris Shula who was the defensive backs coach in 2022. The Rams have leverage and can try to force the Miami Dolphins’ hand. McVay voiced this sentiment last week. Said McVay,

“I feel good about where we’re at. Obviously, Jalen’s a unique deal, but I think we all feel this way in terms of the guys that have played. We’ve gotten a lot of guys that have played meaningful ball at the corner position at the safety. We’ve got some different guys that can flex between safety dime, linebacker, the nickel star spot…I do feel really good about the development of that group.”

Whether or not McVay should feel good about where the Rams are at in the secondary can certainly be argued. However, there’s a chance that McVay is playing the game much better than he has in the past or the Rams simply don’t have as much interest in Ramsey as what is out there in the media.

At this point, it becomes a waiting game to see who will crack first. Les Snead and Chris Grier are sitting across the table from each other, cards close to their faces, watching to see who blinks first. The June 1 deadline has passed and the Dolphins are already taking just a $5.9 million cap hit compared to the $12.6 million cap hit that they traded last month. Both sides can sit and wait until they get the deal that they want.

From the Rams’ perspective, there isn’t any financial pressure. They have $19.4 million in cap space and would have no problem taking on the $5.9 million cap hit. While Ramsey has a $25 million cap hit next year, there is an out in his contract after this season or the deal could potentially be re-worked so that it makes sense for both sides. That’s not something that needs to be figured out immediately.

When Ramsey first became available, it seemed almost inevitable that the Rams would trade for the Dolphins cornerback. However, as the June 1 date neared and now that we’re past it, things seem to have cooled down. That doesn’t mean that the Rams won’t trade for Ramsey, but they aren’t as pressed to do the deal as they may have been before the draft.

With the calendar flipped past June 1, the countdown for whether or not the Rams make a deal for Ramsey is officially on. They have the cap space, the familiarity, and the patience to wait for the right moment or walk away entirely. For now, it’s a game of patience between two front offices, each waiting for the other to flinch. If Ramsey becomes a Ram again, it’ll be because the value lined up with the vision, not because of nostalgia or headlines.