Ramsey to Rams; Why Didn't the Cowboys trade for Jalen?
FRISCO - Is there anything more headline-grabbing than Jalen Ramsey being traded to the Los Angeles Rams? Maybe one: The gossip that had the gifted-but-controversial DB being traded to the Dallas Cowboys.
Before the 2016 NFL Draft, star defensive back Ramsey was on Dallas' board with "tags touching'' alongside Ezekiel Elliott. That is to say, their grades were pretty much exactly the same. In the end, even the defensive coaches here inside The Star supported the selection of Ohio State running back Zeke over Florida State product Ramsey.
Elliott came to Dallas as the fourth overall pick, Ramsey went to Jacksonville at Pick No. 5.
Before that draft, Ramsey declared that he wanted to be a Cowboy, that he wanted join his favorite team. Later, though, having been "spurned'' by Dallas, he declared, "I will never play for (the Cowboys) unless the Joneses leave."
Shortly after that remark - one of the many colorfully foolish things Jalen has said in his brief-but-brilliant career - his Jags came to AT&T Stadium fresh off having made the AFC Championship Game. The Joneses' team dismantled the "hot'' Jags, 40-7 ... and Jacksonville has never quite been the same since.
And now, after weeks of attempting to whine his way out of Florida, the Jags have given in, accepting the Rams' blockbuster offer of two first-round picks plus a fourth-rounder. And suddenly, Ramsey's sore back and the other "ailments'' that have kept him out of the Jags' lineup are magically cured.
Was the two-first-round-picks price for Ramsey too high for Dallas? Obviously. But there is something else here: Money.
Ramsey is set for a new contract after 2020, and I predict he's on a track to "set the bar'' at cornerback. As it is, his fifth-year option in 2020 will cost his employer $13 million. While the Cowboys on paper have, for instance, $90 million in cap room - seemingly enough to do anything they wish! - their wishes are already mapped out.
And their wishes do not include paying Jalen Ramsey $13 mil next year ... and then watching as he demands the richest deal for a defensive back in NFL history after that.
What are the chances that Ramsey's presence turns around this year's 3-3 Rams in a way similar to what Amari Cooper (price to the Raiders: one first-rounder) did in Dallas last year? Decent.
What are the chances that Ramsey becomes a headache in L.A. in the same way he became a headache in Jacksonville over his desire for credit, attention and money? Better than decent.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones recently alluded to Dallas' financial plan, saying that there was no trade-available player who can turn around a franchise's fortunes like Charles Haley and Deion Sanders did when he acquired them in the Super Bowl-rich early 1990's.
“If Charles Haley were out there or Deion Sanders, I did, and I would do it again,'' Jones said. "I went after those guys. If someone that would make that much difference (was available) - those guys are Supermen - then I would be after them.”
Maybe now, with the Cowboys struggled at 3-3 and with defensive lineman Tyrone Crawford moving to IR, another "Superman'' trade is merited - for a defensive tackle. But in the case of Jalen Ramsey, in Dallas' minds, the "super'' ability was never going to match the "super'' demands.
