Ramsey is under contract through the 2028 season

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Jalen Ramsey may have played his last down as a member of the Miami Dolphins. The organization has come to a mutual agreement with the former All-Pro cornerback to explore trade options, which is likely to lead to him playing elsewhere in 2025. Dolphins GM Chris Grier announced the decision on Tuesday.

“We decided it was probably in the best interest for all parties to move forward [separately],” Grier said.

This is quite the turn of events for both parties, as Ramsey just agreed to a three-year, $72.3 million contract extension with the club back in September, which made him the highest-paid cornerback in the league. Following a season where Ramsey had a down year statistically and Miami dropped to an 8-9 record that led them to miss the playoffs, however, it looks like the two sides may look to reset and move on from one another.

In 2024, Ramsey played in all 17 games played for the Dolphins. While durable, the 30-year-old, seven-time Pro Bowler did see a dip in production for his standards, allowing an 83.2 passer rating when targeted in coverage along with a 62% completion rate. Last season also saw Ramsey miss the Pro Bowl for the first time since his rookie year in 2016.

Given Ramsey’s contract, it could be a bit difficult to move him via trade. He has a guaranteed salary of $24.3 million in 2025 with a cap number of roughly $16.6 million. If the Dolphins do find a trade partner, they’d clear about $8.5 million in salary cap space in 2025 if designated as a pre-June 1 trade. If Ramsey is designated as a post-June 1 trade, the cap relief would be $9.9 million for next season.

Ramsey first joined the Dolphins in 2023 when the club traded for him in a deal with the Los Angeles Rams. Upon arrival, Ramsey did face some adversity, tearing his meniscus in his knee, which delayed his debut with his new club. However, once he got on the field, Ramsey maintained his high level of play, allowing a 51.1 passer rating in coverage during his 10 games played in 2023.

The Florida State product initially entered the league as the fifth overall pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2016 and spent his first four years with the club before being traded to the Los Angeles Rams in October 2019. In L.A., Ramsey helped the Rams win Super Bowl LVI during the 2021 season.

As for what could be next for Ramsey, let’s take a look at a trio of landing spots.

Atlanta Falcons

Atlanta has just about $10 million in available cap space, so they’d certainly need to do some cap gymnastics to fit Ramsey in, but there is a notable relationship here. Falcons head coach Raheem Morris was the defensive coordinator for the Rams during part of Ramsey’s tenure in Los Angeles, and Morris saw firsthand his All-Pro ceiling. While A.J. Terrell is manning one side of the secondary, Atlanta could look to upgrade its corner situation on the other side of the field after Mike Hughes allowed a 105.8 passer rating when targeted last season. The Falcons also ranked in the bottom half of the league in passing yards allowed per game and allowed the second-most passing touchdowns.

Cincinnati Bengals

The Bengals did a solid job keeping their offensive stars intact this offseason, agreeing to extensions with both Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. While that’s certainly worth a pat on the back, the key reason why Cincy missed the playoffs a season ago was due to its poor defense, particularly the secondary. Last year, the Bengals surrendered the fourth-most passing touchdowns during the regular season and were abysmal in the red zone, allowing opponents to score a touchdown on 67.9% of their trips into the red area.

Detroit Lions

The Lions are firmly within their Super Bowl window, so looking for experienced players who have climbed that mountain should be appealing to them. That’s especially true in the case of Ramsey as the corner should be able to help the secondary after it allowed 244 passing yards per game during the regular season, the third highest in the NFL. Sure, the team signed D.J. Reed in free agency and spent their 2024 first-round pick on Terrion Arnold, but adding Ramsey to bolster the depth should be an endeavor worth exploring, particularly due to them also having the second-highest amount of cap space currently at about $42.3 million.