Getty Jalen Rasmey during the February 11, 2022 Super Bowl media day held at Thousand Oaks, California.
As of Monday, April 18 at 11:25 a.m. PT, Jalen Ramsey of the Los Angeles Rams is no longer the league’s richest defensive back — not at $100 million with $71.2 million guaranteed.
That title now belongs to Denzel Ward of the Cleveland Browns.
First reported by ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter, Ward is officially in the NFL record books and will end up with more money in his account than the Super Bowl 56 champion Ramsey.
“Browns are signing Pro-Bowl CB Denzel Ward to a 5-year, $100.5 million contract extension that includes $71.25 million guaranteed, per source. At age 24, Ward is the highest-paid CB in NFL history,” Schefter tweeted. “Tory Dandy of CAA Sports, who negotiated the contract, confirmed the deal to ESPN.”
And that move sparked a strong take from the always verbose cornerback…then a response made by Ward right after.
Ramsey’s Reaction to Record Deal, Followed by Ward’s Response
Ramsey showed no animosity in losing his title as the league’s richest defensive back.
Instead, the six-year veteran and 27-year-old is glad to know he’s not the only member of the $100 million club.
“I’ve been waiting on somebody else to touch that 100 club & you DEFINITELY DESERVE IT,” Ramsey tweeted to Ward at 11:58 a.m. PT.
The much younger Ward, who entered the league in 2018 out of Ohio State, immediately responded back in less than 10 minutes.
“Respect! Appreciate you brotha!” Ward fired back along with the “100” emoji. “Let’s keep going!”
How Ward Compares to Ramsey
Money wise, here’s where else Ward gets compared with Ramsey.
Ward will be receiving $500,000 more than what the three-time All-Pro and five-time Pro Bowler makes. However, for the 2022 season, Ramsey will still have the heftier base salary per Spotrac: With Ramsey set to get $15 million while Ward is expecting to reel in $13,294,000 in that category.
Both have established themselves as two of the league’s most dominating cornerbacks. The two cornerbacks have earned multiple Pro Bowl appearances and have picked off 10 or more passes in their career (Ramsey has 15 for his career per Pro Football Reference).
The two are also in divisions that are flooded with stout receiver play, high-profile quarterbacks, or both. Ward had to tangle with the Cincinnati Bengals’ dynamic receiving core before their Super Bowl appearance with Ramsey and the Rams while also having to deal with Juju Smith-Schuster of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Marquise “Hollywood” Brown of the Baltimore Ravens — the former a 111-catch receiver and Pro Bowler during Ward’s first season in the league and the latter surpassing 1,000 yards for the first time in his young career in 2021. None of those receivers earned past 100 yards facing Ward per Pro Football Focus.
Ramsey, meanwhile, has tangled with names like De’Andre Hopkins of the Arizona Cardinals, D.K. Metcalf of the Seattle Seahawks and Deebo Samuel of the San Francisco 49ers. Ramsey only surrendered more than 100 yards receiving in two games including playoffs — and none were against his division rivals, which makes him common to Ward.
One more trait that makes them near identical: Both entered the NFL as top five picks — Ramsey a No. 5 overall pickup in 2016 and Ward going No. 4 overall two years later.
Now, both are the newest members of the $100 million club…except both are the only cornerback representatives.