It looks like Jalen Ramsey will be hanging around Northeast Florida for a while after all.
Ramsey appeared to be as good as gone following a reported trade request last week. In fact, a follow-up to the initial report indicated Jacksonville was likely to work out a deal at some point over the next seven days.
Well, it looks like a blockbuster no longer is imminent. After the Jaguars claimed an inspiring Week 3 win, all reports since Thursday have implied Jacksonville will hang onto the star cornerback for the time being. But while the Jags reportedly are not interested in trading Ramsey, Peter King knows there’s still a chance their hand could be forced.
“It’ll take a gutsy team to pay a huge price (two ones plus something, or a one and another pick and a good player) for a cornerback you’re likely to have on your team for 1.75 years,” King wrote in his latest Football Morning in America column for NBC Sports. “Keep hearing Ramsey will honor his contract and play out the fifth-year option, but then he wants to be a free agent. We’ll see if a team like Philadelphia gets desperate.”
It’s worth noting the price tag for Ramsey extends beyond a trade return. Any deal for the 24-year-old likely will be made with long-term hopes in mind, and Ramsey will be looking to seriously cash in when his current contract expires after the 2020 campaign. Forking over future assets is one thing, but offering up a lucrative, multiyear deal is a whole other type of commitment.
That said, the Eagles do seem like a team capable of making waves. Philadelphia never has shied away from executing big moves, and in a top-heavy NFC, a Ramsey deal could go a long way in legitimizing the Birds’ Super Bowl aspirations.
