The Rams gave up way, way too much for Jalen Ramsey
Jalen Ramsey is a really good NFL cornerback, but he’s not worth the king’s ransom the Rams paid to acquire him and lock him up for the long haul.
Someone in the Rams’ front office needs to gain a better understanding of the term “sunk cost.” The mountain of money the team just committed to Jalen Ramsey only compounds the error the franchise made when acquiring the talented cornerback.
It’s not that Ramsey isn’t an excellent cornerback. On the contrary, he’s one of the best players in the league at his position. It’s an overstatement to refer to him as a legitimate shutdown corner, but he’s arguably as close as it gets in the modern NFL. The Rams can comfortably line him up against their opponent’s No. 1 wide receivers on a weekly basis.
The problem is that Los Angeles is paying Ramsey to be a transcendent superstar. It’s almost impossible for any cornerback to provide a team that kind of value. The chances of Ramsey living up to his new five-year, $105 million contract are remote at best.
Giving Ramsey so much annual money is only going to compound the Rams’ roster issues. Currently, Sean McVay and his coaching staff are blessed with several of the game’s brightest stars, but the lack of depth on the roster is a major issue. That’s a big reason why Los Angeles is currently projected to finish third in the NFC West by most prognosticators.
It’s also important to remember that Ramsey’s current salary isn’t the only cost the franchise must associate with him. The team also gave up two first round picks to acquire him from the Jaguars in the first place. That’s a steep price for any NFL team to pay. It’s particularly damaging for a team like the Rams that needs to find a way to acquire cheap, quality players if they want to rejoin the NFL elite.
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Expect the Rams to tout Ramsey’s new deal as a justification for the high price they paid to trade for him. In reality, it’s just an example of the team compounding one mistake with another. The team gave up too much to acquire Ramsey and now they’ve overpaid to keep him in the fold.
It’s not a mistake that will cripple the team’s front office moving forward, but it’s going to make roster construction in Los Angeles much more difficult in future years.