Steelers Miss Out On Surprisingly Under Priced Trade For Cornerback Jalen Ramsey

The Pittsburgh Steelers were rumored to be interested in 3x All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey. Ramsey would've been a possibly replacement for free agent Cam Sutton who is hours away from hitting the open market. With the Los Angeles Rams in salary cap trouble, they were forced to part ways with the cornerback because of his bloated contract.  Ramsey came over to the Rams from Jacksonville in 2019 and served his purpose for the Rams helping them win the Super Bowl in 2021.

It was rumored that the asking price for Ramsey would be the Steelers first pick in the second round. That would be the pick the Steelers received from the Chicago Bears for Chase Claypool. Which is the #32 overall selection, first pick in the second round. Many believed that was too steep of a price to give up for the aging cornerback who also comes with a lot of baggage.

On Sunday afternoon the Rams struck a deal for Ramsey sending him to the Miami Dolphins for a 3rd round selection, and back up tight end Hunter Long. Long has been in the NFL for two seasons and has a total of 1 reception for 8 yards. The deal was way off from the rumored #32 overall pick that the Steelers would've had to give up to get Ramsey. 

That isn't a very impressive return for the Rams for a cornerback that had four interceptions, two forced fumbles, 18 pass deflections, and four tackles for a loss. By comparison Ramsey would beat Sutton in all of those categories last season. Ramsey also was named to the Pro Bowl. 

The Steelers selection in the third round is three spots later than what the Dolphins gave up as part of the Ramsey deal. But it's conceivable the Steelers could've offered pick number 80 plus another selection next season to get the deal done. 

The major hurdle for the Steelers would've been Ramsey's 17-million-dollar base salary for 2023. It's possible that they could've got the Rams to eat some of his base salary by offering a higher draft selection. But it's also possible that the Rams would be more inclined to trade him to a team that could take on his entire base salary and get less of a return. Which is exactly what they did according to Spotrac. 

A restructure of Ramsey's contract once he arrived in Pittsburgh could've freed up at most 10.6 million according to OverTheCap.com. So it's possibly he could've fit under the Steelers salary cap. But by doing that it would split the 10.6 million saved in 2023 and add it into 2024, and 2025 causing Ramsey's salary cap hit to be over 24 million each of those seasons.

As it stands right now the Steelers have $10,409,318 in salary cap space after releasing cornerback William Jackson III. That isn't a lot of money to go around for a team that has tons of free agents. It's likely they'll have to ask superstars Minkah Fitzpatrick, and TJ Watt to restructure their deals to create additional room. Another candidate for a restructure is wide receiver Diontae Johnson.

 Another scenario could be the team extending backup quarterback Mitchell Trubisky. That would be the only way to get his $10,625,000 cap charge down to a more reasonable number now that it's clear he won't be the starter. He's due for an 8 million dollar base salary in 2023. The team has already said multiple times they aren't interested in releasing him. 

Do you believe the Steelers should've made a deal for Ramsey given what little return he demanded? Let us know in the comments below. 

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