Getty The Baltimore Ravens make sense for a 6-time Pro-Bowler available for trade.
The Baltimore Ravens aren’t shy about trading for proven veterans, especially on defense, so it’s likely they’ve been alerted by rumors involving cornerback Jalen Ramsey.
He’s already been the subject of trade talks involving the Los Angeles Rams this offseason, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, and his colleague Daniel Jeremiah thinks the Ravens are a good fit: “I think about a previous trade of a Rams corner in Marcus Peters going to the Baltimore Ravens. Marcus Peters’ now a free agent, the Ravens have a need at corner.”
.@TomPelissero discusses the trade talks the Rams have been having about the six-time Pro Bowler CB Jalen Ramsey. (via @NFLTotalAccess)
Jeremiah correctly noted how the Ravens “love, you know, big-time corners. They love investing in that position.” He also pointed out how 28-year-old Ramsey has a “lot of good football left.”
Although Pelissero reported “league sources now believe it is very likely Ramsey is traded in the coming weeks,” the Ravens might struggle to make a deal happen while they’re still trying to resolve the future of franchise quarterback Lamar Jackson.
Super Bowl Winner’s Contract Tough to Accommodate Amid Jackson Saga
Ramsey’s contract makes any trade tough for the Ravens. The defensive back who helped the Rams win Super Bowl LVI is set to earn $17 million in base salary in 2023 and carry a cap hit worth $25.2 million, according to Spotrac.com.
Those figures are steep when the Ravens have $25,980,205 worth of space under the salary cap. Expect the cash represented by that figure to be absorbed by Jackson’s next deal, whether it’s a long-term contract or the franchise tag.
Using the exclusive tag could cost the Ravens as much as $45 million this season, based on the average annual salaries of the top five highest-paid quarterbacks in the NFL. Alternatively, the non-exclusive tag would let other teams speak to Jackson, teams possibly prepared to trade two first-round draft picks to acquire his services.
Former New York Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum, currently an insider for ESPN, named his old team and the Atlanta Falcons as franchises likely to give up those picks for Jackson: “A lot of people feel like if Lamar Jackson gets the non-exclusive tag, some team will go after him, maybe the Jets…If I’m the Falcons, why not give up two ones for certainty?”
Lamar Jackson franchise tag explained. What should the Ravens do?
There are plenty of variables facing Ravens’ general manager Eric DeCosta. They include using the tag or giving Jackson fully guaranteed money for the long haul.
DeCosta acknowledged he still wants to find a way to bring Jackson back, per Ari Meirov of The 33rd Team:
#Ravens GM Eric DeCosta says he’s having ongoing discussions with Lamar Jackson and remains optimistic. They have not made a decision on which franchise tag they’ll use.
“We want Lamar here. We want him back. Living in a world without a quarterback is a bad world to live in.”
Having to weigh these kinds of decisions about Jackson is why it’s tough for the Ravens to even think about recruiting marquee talent at other positions. Even when the player in question is an elite performer like Ramsey.
Proven Corner Would Make Ravens’ Secondary Elite
Ramsey wasn’t playing at the peak of his powers in 2022, but he’s still one of the best cover men in the NFL. Even in a down year, Ramsey snatched four interceptions, including this one against Geno Smith and the Seattle Seahawks in Week 18:
STOP PLAYING WITH @jalenramsey! A pick to start Week 18!
Ramsey remains a true ball hawk, as well as a big hitter who missed just three tackles last season, per Pro Football Reference. The seven-year veteran also proved his worth getting after quarterbacks by logging two sacks and registering four pressures from 21 blitzes.
Numbers like those make Ramsey a more physical and active presence near the line of scrimmage than Peters. The latter joined the Ravens from the Rams in 2019, in exchange for a fifth-round pick and linebacker Kenny Young, and Peters has always been more comfortable as an opportunistic playmaker in off coverage.
Ramsey fits as a more effective weapon in the aggressive schemes favored by Ravens’ defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald. He already has the makings of an elite secondary, thanks to safeties Kyle Hamilton and Marcus Williams, along with cornerback Marlon Humphrey.
Adding Ramsey to the mix would make Macdonald’s unit formidable, but it will take more than unusually creative wheeling and dealing from DeCosta to make a trade happen. It’s more likely this stays a tantalizing, but unfulfilled, what-if scenario for the Ravens.